


Order Unto Chaos

by Minty_Fangs



Category: Assassin's Creed, 終わりのセラフ | Owari no Seraph | Seraph of the End
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Assassin's Creed AU, Even Desmond Miles, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, No Sex, Not Beta Read, and like everyone else gets a mention at some point probably?, implied shinoa/mitsuba, just heavy makeouts, kinda on the lore heavy side for AC, not without explaination, slightly OOC, slow build up, totally implied Yoichi/Shiho, well its mostly fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-15
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-14 04:57:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5730295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minty_Fangs/pseuds/Minty_Fangs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>((Modern Timeline Assassin's Creed AU))</p><p>Yuuichirou is an average guy living an average life; until he was contacted by the Brotherhood to aid them in their search for the Pieces of Eden. Easily done with Animus technology, but as the assassins in the field are picked off one by one, it falls to the initiates like himself to continue the fight to keep humanity from falling under Templar control. He's got a lot to learn before he reaches the rank of Master Assassin, but with his eyes on the prize there's little that will stop him. Except perhaps, a certain target.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome Initiate

**Author's Note:**

> -This is a somewhat lore heavy story on the Assassin's Creed side. But not without explanations and reason. This is my first fanfiction piece in a long while, so bear with me if my writing doesn't flow very well. Enjoy~!

Welcome Initiate.

He huffed. “You’d think they’d change that to Assassin by now, yea?” he said aloud, though there was no one to hear him. He sat alone, crossed legged on the couch. If a Templar came crashing into his tiny apartment right then, he guessed he would make a sorry sight. PJ pants in black and green plaid, a baggy t-shit with the logo of a band he had never listened too and a bag of chips on the little table between him and the tv.

His ‘mentor’ appeared on the screen moments later. “Ah, its been a while since we got any news from you. Thought you might’ve gotten your ass caught by now,” Guren said with a laugh. The image was fuzzy and he could never make all the details out of his mentor's face, but the tone of his voice came across just fine without needing to see the snide grin.

“Haha,” he laughed dryly, as the light for his own little webcam like device lit up to indicate there was a two way connection, “that was one time. And it wasn’t like it was something I couldn’t handle!”

“Oh, sure. Next time you’re cornered by a bunch of lowly Templar thugs, I’ll leave you to it then,” came the snappy reply.

“Good! I’ll show you guys what I’m capable of that way.” He grinned widely, itching for a fight.

It had been a year since he was contacted by the Brotherhood via the very console the Templar corporation, Abstergo, had created under the guise of entertainment. The Assassins’ had hacked into its systems and were using it then as a means to recruit into their order and train the would be members. Most simply sorted through memory data that the chosen mentors gave them to track 'Pieces of Eden’ but as more and more of the field agents were taken out…well, it had come down to Yuuichirou to take up the work left behind by another assassin in his area.

He had picked up the skills easily. The free-running, the hand to hand combat, even the sight that allowed him to distinguish friend from foe. But, he had yet to be armed with the iconic hidden blade or any weapon really. Simply that it was hard to conceal weapons like that these days and there was always the over hanging threat of being caught and tossed in the back of a police car.

“We have a task for you. An easy one that should keep you out of any Templar sights for the time being,” Guren continued, his voice taking a more serious note. “Reconnaissance at a possible hide-out for the Templars. They’re getting more numerous in the area and we have reason to believe that it has to do with a Piece of Eden. The information in the memories you’ve dug are hint enough that its exactly why.”

“So this is a field mission, then?” he asked, just to be sure. “Cause it sounds a lot like you’re trusting me out in the field again.”

Guren sighed and rubbed at his temples. The screen flickered with static for a moment. “Yes, yes, field work. But, only look around. Take pictures, but be discreet, Yuu. I don’t want to have to save your ass from actual Templar hands. I’ll text you the address and information. Just remember, try not to be an idiot.”

Yuuichirou had a hard time keeping the grin from simply splitting his face. “Just snoop around? That’s easy. I’ll get you all the information you could ever ask for.”

Guren sighed again. “Good-bye, Initiate.” The final came out like a taunt and it stung.

The screen went black and the light went out to tell him the connection had ended. The TV returned to the usual Abstergo menu. With a yawn, he scratched his mop of dark hair and stretched.

It was quiet, only the constant rumble of traffic below and the murmurs of people in the halls of the complex reached his ears. He rearranged himself to be comfortable and selected the files of the next series of memory files. He couldn’t do anything anyways until Guren sent him the location and besides, he was intrigued by the mysterious figure he kept seeing in the memories as of late. He slipped easily into the memories of his long lost ancestor assassin and lost himself in the images before his eyes.

Minutes or hours, he wasn’t sure, but when his cell phone vibrated and rang, he jumped from his skin. He searched frantically for the thing before accidentally sending it across the room when he kicked it off the sofa. Praying the screen wasn’t cracked, he got up to look at the message.

No one but Guren and a few other assassins nearby messaged him these days. He lived a hermit’s life. Eat, work, sleep, save the world from Templars. The usual.

The address he knew, as well as the names that followed, 'Shinoa and Yoichi will meet you there. Someone has to keep you in line.’

A pout formed on his lips as he read the last line, but his shoulders sagged with resignation. There was no escaping Shinoa if she was being sent too. Having been in the Brotherhood from birth, the girl was already trained and well versed in their ways. Her aloof attitude to it all however, had him thinking she was covering for not being as good as she led them all to think. Or she was twice as good; he hadn’t quite made up his mind on what was more likely. But she was hiding something for sure. He did however, understand that she would be his key to getting properly inducted into the Brotherhood and becoming a recognized Assassin.

'Impress Shinoa with my skill and surely she’ll put in a good word for me,’ he thought, seeing this mission now as an opportunity. 'I never work with Guren for him to see me in action, how could he possibly know anything about what I can do…’ Besides that one time…

He sent no reply, as he was told, and deleted the message from his phone after memorizing the location and rendezvous time. It was early, far earlier than his usual outings and it was quite the distance from his shabby little apartment. With steeled resolve, he worked through a cycle of his work-out, push-ups, lunges, sit-ups, and other stretches before bathing quietly and heading to bed. It was a nightly ritual to keep himself in shape for the running and climbing. And sure he missed a few nights, but it was something to do and his efforts were paying off.

—–

When the alarm screeched in his ears that morning, he felt as if he had not slept a wink. Tossing and turning in excitement had kept him from a proper night’s sleep and now he felt the consequences. Dragging himself from the bed, he shuffled about to dress and prepare for his day. He’d have to take a train two stops over at least, the rest of the distance would normally be easily covered by foot. But as he continued to yawn, even as he cleared away breakfast and pulled his bag over his shoulder, he wasn’t sure if he’d make it. Much less stay awake on the train to get off at his stop.

A gray sky threatened to douse the city in a heavy rain and already the air hung humid and thick and Yuuichirou found himself lamenting the lack of an umbrella as he tugged his hood over his head. A part of him expected a storm while the other hoped the skies would clear.

His phone vibrated in his pocket as soon as he sat on the train.

'Hello~ Yuu, ready for some fun?’ The text from Shinoa read.

'Always’ he replied.

'Good to hear. A change of plans, Yoichi and I will meet you at the station.’

'Why?’

'Because we have to keep an eye on you. That’s too far without supervision.’

’…Guren put you up to this.’

'Not at all! Entirely my idea.’

Yuu sighed and stuffed the phone back in his pocket. He muttered to himself about being a perfectly capable adult and not needing a babysitter. 

Shinoa and Yoichi greeted him with smiles as he stepped out of the station. Both were dressed casually, nothing marked them out from the crowd beyond them. Other than Shinoa’s pastel purple hair, but such dyed colours were not uncommon and he noted that it seemed to be a growing trend. Like himself however, they were also dressed with freedom of movement in mind. He and Yoichi seemed to take the jogging pants route, with sneakers and hoodies. Shinoa had tights paired with shorts and a light zip up jacket.  
With her wide, almost menacing, grin, she pulled him into a hug. Rolling his eyes, he returned it weakly. It did not go unnoticed and when they pulled apart, she tsk’d.

“Come on,” she teased, “At least pretend to be my friend. Or, wait, could this be how you treat friends? No wonder you don’t have any.” She laughed with a wink and twirled away from him.

“Hey! That’s not- I do no- I don’t need friends,” he shouted after her, even as Yoichi put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“Yuu, please…She was just joking. No need to shout,” he said.

Yuu batted his hand away and followed after Shinoa with a 'hmph’. He wasn’t so sure dealing with Shinoa was worth moving up in the ranks. There had to be another, more serious Assassin that could take him under their wing. Until he found them though, he was stuck with her and had no choice but to grin and bear it.  
Once further from the station, as out of sight as they could get, they scrambled up the side of a building. Ramps, railings and ventilation shafts were hand holds and launch pads. The thrill of running dangerously on the rooftops made his heart pound, waking and energizing him. It was a delicious freedom that he could not remember tasting before in his life.

Orphaned at an early age, he could only truly recall the walls of the orphanage and the faces of those that were there with him. It took several years but eventually he had been adopted and raised by what could best be described as the picture perfect family. Yet, he had been stifled by the normalcy and the schedules and the same thing, day in and day out. There was no room for divergence, no room for personal freedom besides what he could contain to his bedroom and a few after school activities.

And thus he was reminded was it was so easy to join the Brotherhood. The fight for freedom; Of body, of mind, and of spirit. No longer would he be stifled by the average and no longer would he ever settle for any less than what he desired. He would have what he wanted, no matter the cost.

One more jump, tuck and roll and they came to a halt. Below them lay a two story complex, still under construction. It was rumored to be a hindered different things and no one seemed to have the same answer. A research facility, a gym, an arcade, a convention hall, or a shopping center; either way it was large and it was crawling with workers. The construction team were easy to tell apart from the actual building’s staff, the florescent vests and hard hats marked them out well enough without the aid of the special vision. (Guren had called it something, but he had long forgotten it.)

They crouched at the railing and peered over it to scan the layout. Though they could not gather much even from their higher view point. High walls kept most out of sight the parts that were still under construction and the main entrance to the rest of the complex had a security guard. The finished building was mostly whites walls and glass with shades drawn to hide the interior.

“No doubt there are countless more inside too,” Shinoa muttered. “There’s nothing on the boards to suggest the company building the complex or its purpose either. You’d think more people would be asking what it is instead of just circulating rumors.” She sighed and backed away from the railing.  
Yuuichirou continued to watch the building, looking for a way over the boards, a way past the guard or even how others were entering. He could just as easily pick pocket an employee’s ID if it came to that, but he’d rather not. He could hear Shinoa and Yoichi talking behind him, but he blocked them out as he thought about the infiltration. He had already come to the conclusion that getting inside was his only option for any good information. They would get nothing but sitting around outside staring at blank walls.

A car pulled up; an expensive one he noted, black with no logos or identifiers beyond the license plate. The click of a camera told him that one of the other two had already snapped a picture for reference. He pulled out his own quickly and set it to video and trained it on the figure emerging.

A blond man, tall and slender and dressed in a well tailored suit stepped out. As he turned around to close the door, the word was tumbling from Yuuichirou’s mouth before he could stop it, “Mika?”


	2. Mission Details

The last time they had seen each other was a years ago. Mikaela had been adopted a few weeks before Yuuichirou. At the time, it felt like betrayal. His best friend was leaving him behind and no amount of crying and screaming could stop it. No amount of begging Mika to take him with him when he left could convince the would be parents to take him as well. In time, after his own adoption, he had come to accept it and was happy for him even that Mika was out there somewhere, happy with a family that probably loved him dearly.

He had never expected to see him again. Yet, there he was and there was no mistaking it. He’d gotten older, but that face was unforgettable. Even his hair was the same curly mess and even from that distance he could see the sparkling, blue eyes.

He had to get closer, he had to speak to him! His heart pounded in his chest as he shut turned the camera off on his phone and made a mad dash for the other side of the roof where he new could use the fire escape stairs to get down.

“Yuu?” Shinoa called in confusion.

“Yuuichirou, where are going?” Yoichi asked in surprise.

Their footsteps followed him but before he could leap over the railing and swing down, they grabbed him and pulled him away.

“Yuu! What are doing?” The girl demanded this time, her voice was no longer soft and cheery.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I know him,” he answered, finally as he tried to shake the two off him. “He…he’s an old friend of mine that I haven’t seen in a long time. I…I just wanted-”

“He’s a Templar is what he is,” she replied, “Or at least, he works for them…You can’t just run off like that while on a mission. Guren’s not here to save you and I am not equipped for a fight today.”

Yuichiro looked at her with a hard glare, “I know him! If he knew what the Templars were up to, he’d never be with them! He just be a worker there or something, he can’t possibly actually be one of them. If I could talk to him, explain to him-”

“Yuu, you can’t just talk to people outside the Brotherhood about this kind of thing. Especially if he is a Templar…He might tell them about you and they’d know for sure that we’re running surveillance and recon on them here,” Yoichi explained, trying to the voice of reason between the two. “Yes, there’s a good chance he might not know about it…The Templars rarely share their information with simple hired workers, but…”

The pause weighed heavy between them. “But what? Spit it out, Yoichi,” the other boy hissed.

“He was…dressed much better than the rest of the workers I’d seen here before. There’s no way he’s just a grunt.” The quieter boy tried to give him a sympathetic smile. “Maybe, we can use your connection to him somehow, but this is probably best put to Guren and the other Masters first.”

Shinoa nodded in agreement. “Good idea. For now though, let’s get to the ground and see if we can’t see anything from down there that Yoichi and Shiho might’ve missed in their quick scans of the place before hand. And don’t run off again, Yuu.”

He simply huffed in response and looked away from both of them. As they swung over the railing and hit the metal staircase, he looked over his shoulder. The complex was lost from sight, but the image of Mikaela was burned into his mind.

He joined them on the ground however, resisting every urge to run ahead. It seemed as well, that Shinoa was in no hurry to get started on scoping the place out in detail. She came to the end of the alley and to the sidewalk and stopped. She glanced over her shoulder, toward him and asked, “Yuu…Do you remember the Tenets of the Creed?”

“Huh? Where is this coming from?” he asked in retort. He crossed his arms and looked at Yoichi who seemed equally puzzled by the suddenness of the question.

“Answer it, do you know the tenets? Surely, Guren has drilled them into your mind by now,” she continued.

“Of course I kno-”

“Then say them.”

With a loud sigh, he recited, “The first is ‘Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent’. The second is 'Hide in plain sight’. The third is 'Never compromise the Brotherhood’.”

“Keep the third in mind then the next time you decide to run off.”

His eyes went wide in shock at the serious weight behind her words. There was a veiled threat in the way she said them. He hung his head as the mistake came to light. Somehow, he knew the situation would not have changed had the tenet been in the forefront of his mind or not. He would have run for Mikaela regardless; which was strange on its own how drawn he was to his old friend.

Satisfied with his answer, she started out, dragging the two boys behind. She made idle chatter, playing Yoichi’s girlfriend as they wandered down the street. 'Hide in plain sight’ came the words of the second tenet again. Just as she had done in the train station to greet him. She stopped in front of a shop across from the complex and pretended to check her hair and look at the things in the display. Yuuichirou knew that she was using the reflections to look at the building from different angles.

“The lighting here is really good! Quick, let’s get a selfie together Yoichi!” she said suddenly and pulled her phone out again and pulled him in close before he could resist.

The angle was all wrong through and the picture would end up being entirely of what was behind her instead. 'Clever,’ he thought. He watched on and rolled his eyes. An annoyed third wheel to any onlooker, a part he played without much effort. But they could not continue the charade forever and a small group of friends hanging around the same building was bound to look suspicious at some point. She led them off, back toward the station, but ducked into a small cafe along the way.

They ordered a drink and sat in a corner. “Yoichi, you’re meeting with Shiho later tonight, right?” Shinoa asked in hushed tone.

He nodded his reply with a small smile.

“He’s just watching the door though, taking notes of who’s going in and out right?”

“As far as I know.”

“I hate to say it, but keep close tabs on Yuu’s friend then…Did you get a picture of him?” The question was directed to Yuuichirou who had dazed off into his drink.

“Yuu?” she asked again, waving a hand in front of his face. “Hello? Are you there?”

“Eh? Oh…sorry…yea, I got a video, actually,” he finally answered, pulling his phone out to send it to her. He wasn’t sure how he felt about letting them keep tabs on Mika without him. It was his friend after all and if he was being pressured into it, Yuuichirou would have to get him out of that horrid group before they got their claws in him for good.  
The other two were chatting again and it simply became a part of the background noise as he lost himself in thought. It struck him suddenly that Mikaela looked very similar to a person in the memories he worked through, but then again, Yuuichirou also looked similar to the owner of those memories. An ancestor some four hundred years ago he guessed. He didn’t keep much tabs on the dates; that was for the informants to deal with. But like he and Mika, those two in the memories were also separated for a length of time and reunited. Though theirs seemed to have ended rather happily, while Yuuichirou predicted that his might not end on the best of terms.

And if that was to be the case…He hoped he didn’t see him again.

——

The apartment was quiet. Though it was nothing new, it seemed to be a deeper silence; the kind that one can only feel when they are completely and utterly alone. The world seemed a distance place, one he did not want to face come morning. Shinoa, of course, had told Guren everything, conveniently leaving out his sprint for Mika though.  
The Master Assassin had said nothing about the pictures or the videos and only requested that Yuu stick to sorting through the memories for a while when he contacted him later that night. It was not the ruling that Yuu hoped for and in truth felt more like house arrest than anything productive. Of course, he would still go to work, he had other things to do, but if he couldn’t return to that place…

He had to know. 'Mika was smart then, he’s smart now, too, probably,’ Yuu thought, 'There’s no way he’d fall for that controlling bullshit.’

The Templars, as far as he was aware, were about controlling humanity in its entirety. They were driving forces behind oppressive ideas. They would control information, control belief, control actions; entire lives. They saw society as a machine and they were mechanics. If a cog wasn’t working, they saw no issue with removing it and replacing it with another more useful piece. They worshiped 'Those Who Came Before’, the creators of the pieces of Eden and beings that came before humanity. The powerful artifacts were at the heart of the conflict between the two orders. The Assassins would see these relics hidden away and out of the hands of those that would use them for wrong. The Templars would use the relics of power to further their plans of global subjugation.

And so far, they were winning.

While the Assassins worked from the sidelines and out of sight, the Templars put themselves right in the centre of politics and business. Their Order’s creed worked so well with the ideas of business, of everything having its place that they had no problem creating a corporation. Under the guise of Abstergo, the Templars held the world with everything from entertainment to medicine. They could show the world the history they wanted with the augmented memories in the Animus Entertainment system or their films and games.  
Yuuichirou, however, had heard the worst of it from Guren. They delved into sciences that would have them ruined and scorned from the global community threefold if it ever came to light, if they ever got their hands on solid proof of it.

It was known throughout the Brotherhood what Desmond had done in 2012 and that Abstergo had taken his body and harvested the DNA memory. They kidnapped several others and they too were used as guinea pigs for the first of their experiments into DNA memory.

It sounded like something from a sci-fi or horror movie. It took him a long time to truly come to terms with it, but the more he thought of it, the more he saw that damn logo everywhere. Everywhere! He’d be damned if just let them take control so effortlessly and he’d be damned again if he would let Mikaela be a part of that without trying to get him to see the truth as he did.

But, he did have to show some progress into the memories. He had to find the location of the Piece of Eden before the Templars and its resting place lay in the memories somewhere. He just had to keep sorting through it all. Perhaps the end of the war between the two orders was within his lifetime and maybe, just maybe, if he and Mika survived it all, he would be looking back on all this worry and laugh with him. Like friends do at unpleasant memories and how they did as children together.

Tossing and turning in bed, it nagged him into the light hours of dawn. Sleep eluded him in favor of sorting through all that he had been told of the two organizations, of everything he knew of the Pieces of Eden, and what he was risking everything for. By the time, the sun had risen and he climbed out of bed; a plan had formulated and his course of action was decided. With a wide grin and a motivation he had not felt in a while, he started his day as any other.

Every other after that however, was another step in the plan.


	3. Never Compromise the Brotherhood

He planned his day around the available time he had to go to the complex and watch for a simple sighting of Mika again. He'd return home after an hour or two of quiet surveillance from a rooftop if he didn't see his old friend. Once there, he'd dive back into the data and search for the secrets of the Piece of Eden. 

A week went by with no results in getting in contact with Mika. Information of what the Piece of Eden was and what it did however, was another story. He had heard of the Apples of course, made famous by the Master Assassin Altair as one of the only pieces to be extensively used by the Brotherhood. He heard of the Observatory,a 'precursor site' that had fallen into Templar hands. And the Staff used in Russia. He knew as he searched through the memories, that another team was concurrently looking in London for the Shroud. He had identified that his piece was another Apple, though it was equally important to keep it out of Templar hands. Yuuichirou knew what it was capable of; enslavement of mind and body, inflicting pain, containing information, and if the intent was there, to cause death. 

Another one of those in Templar hands was never a good thing and one was just one too many to risk. 

A second week went by. Guren was becoming impatient with his lack of results on the location of the piece. But it couldn't be helped, his ancestor wouldn't remain still with it and was constantly on the run with it in tow. The Mikaela look-a-like stayed with him as well. 

By the third week, his resolve was waning. No news from Yoichi or Shinoa, no missions from Guren, and no sightings of Mika. He wondered if it was a fool's errand to continue his search for his friend, for the piece, for anything really. 

\-----

It was raining and he was soaked through to the bone. He had left the umbrella behind, not thinking that the threatening skies would drop such a down pour. But he waited anyways. And waited. And waited. By the time his alarm went off to tell him he had been waiting his allotted time, he was shivering with chattering teeth. His limbs ached and his fingers were numb.

Climbing back to the ground proved to be infinitely more difficult with wet shoes and cold fingers that refused to grip anything properly. He wished it was as easy and diving off the side of building and knowing he could land safety in a haystack. But it was more likely he'd land in a dumpster and he didn't want to know what some people threw in those bins. With his luck, the lid would probably be closed anyway.

Without paying much attention to where he was going, he started jogging on the sidewalk toward the station and his ticket to a dry ride home. 

Instead, he took a car door to the face before he could react. Stumbling back he held his nose, checking repeatedly to see if he was bleeding or if it was broken. Ready to spit curses as the idiot who had opened it, he looked up to find the one he was looking for, looking at him with worry and hesitantly reaching out for him. He held an umbrella that covered both of them from the rain that continued to pour.

“Are you alri-” Mika started, but paused. Yuuichirou could see it working in his head, for that moment of recognition. “Yuu?”

The smile that spread on his friend's face was contagious and even with chattering teeth, still split into a grin. “Mika!” he exclaimed.

“Its really you. Its been forever.” His smile faded as he took a closer look at his shivering friend. “You look like you're half froze to death. What are you doing out in this storm? Let's get you inside and dry.”

“But sir, you can't just-” came another voice from the other side of the car. 

Yuuichirou turned to see a man in a simple suit. 'A simple grunt,' he thought. 'A butler, personal driver maybe, at best maybe.'

Mikaela interrupted him, “I'm sure, they'll understand if its just a moment. Besides, I'm grabbing the files for Krul and we're heading back.” He looked back to Yuu with a smile. “Maybe we'll find you an umbrella while we're at it.” There was a hint of laughter as he spoke. 

'I must look like a drowned rat,' he lamented to himself as he followed his friend hurriedly into the building. Once inside, Mika let down the umbrella and shook it out. He gestured for Yuuichirou to follow him further still. 

“Its been so long! I don't even know where to start..,” he started as they headed down the corridor. White walls were bathed in incandescent lights with smooth gray doors dotting them. The floor was made of a white and black marble, polished to a perfect shine. “I guess, how have you been doing and what have you been up to, is as good a start as any?”

Yuuichirou laughed in reply, “Sounds good enough to me. I..I could be better, but there's no point in complaining. I just work, eat, and sleep these days really. Not much...pretty boring. What about you?”

“That does sound awfully boring. I'm doing great really. I mostly run errands for my parents.” He paused and looked back at Yuuichirou. “Did you ever...” the question seemed to get stuck, but he knew what the other was trying to ask.

“Yea, I got adopted not long after you did.”

“You're not still with them?”

“Nah, I'd prefer to be on my own at this point. I am just as old as you are, shouldn't you be on your own?” he teased.

Mikaela stopped in front of one of the doors and dug into his pockets to pull out a key card. He swiped it on the pinpad to the right of the door. The red light flashed for a moment before going green, the locking mechanism was loud enough to be heard clicking before the beep even sounded to say it unlocked. "Probably."

Beyond the door, as it opened even, lights flickered on and bathed an office in white light. Yuuichirou laughed and looked around a bit, “Should I even be in here?”

Mika looked up at him and held a finger to his own pale lips. “Probably not.” Setting the umbrella by the desk, he sat down and looked through some of the files on it before apparently finding what he was looking for. “I know there won't be any towels on hand for that hair of yours but I think instead of an umbrella we can at least give you a ride to where you need to go? Or home if that's where you're heading?”

“Just to the station is fine, its not so long a walk from there to home.”

He was dripping on the carpet, the droplets were clinging to his cheeks as they dripped from his hair and the weight of the sweater was more apparent. Mika however, looked immaculate in the cream coloured, tailored suit. The dark shirt beneath it was just enough to bring attention to his shapely jaw and face. He must have looked like a pauper in comparison.

“Yuu?”

He was vaguely aware Mika was calling him.

“Hello, Yuu-chan?” 

The name he called him as a kid. “Eh? Sorry, I must have...dazed off.”

“You're staring more like it. Have you not seen me in so long that you're committing me to memory now?” His laughter was a welcome thing and he joined in. 

“Who knows when I'll see you next. So I might as well.” 

He had intended for it to be a joke, but instead the laughter died from Mika and he was left frowning. “Who says we can meet up again? I'm not so busy that I don't have spare time and surely between eating and sleeping you have some as well.”

Yuuichirou laughed nervously. “Pfft, of course I have free time. Lots of it.”

“Then what about tomorrow? Are you free in the evening?”

“After work, yeah.”

“Meet you at the station then? Since you sound so adamant to not have me see your place.” Mika stood and looked around the room briefly. Sighing after a moment, he added, “I had hoped she left an umbrella behind in her office...I guess not. I should probably remind her put one in here just in case.”

“She?”

“Oh, my mother. She's the head of one of the departments...not sure which, there are so many to this company that I lose track. She's probably said it a million times, but its got some long winded name.” He waved a hand flippantly and went for the door, brushing past Yuu as he did. 'My hands are full with this, can you grab the umbrella on the way out?”

After grabbing the umbrella, Yuu followed close behind again, trying to sneak a peak at the files tucked under Mika's arm. Beyond the obvious Abstergo logo on the front cover of the portfolio, there was no other signs or labels. He looked at the doors more closely as they went back towards the door, looking for name plates or any kind of sign. Few names stuck, but he did catch the name on the door of the room they were in. 'Krul Tepes' it read. 

The rain had not stopped while they were inside. Yuu opened the umbrella to shield them both for the short walk to the car. He was reluctant to get inside, somewhere out there on the rooftops he knew someone from the Brotherhood was watching. 

Never compromise the Brotherhood, the words came back to him, but he pushed them aside. Not a word was spoken about the Brotherhood at all. Nothing about the Pieces of Eden. And certainly nothing about the suspicion of Mika being a Templar. He would not compromise the Brotherhood, but he would also not give up on a friend so easily. 

“Come on, Yuu, you're getting your seat all wet standing in the rain like that. Hurry up and get inside!” Mika said, a hint of laughter in his voice. 

He shot an angry look to the rooftops before closing the umbrella and getting into the car. Mika had apparently already given the driver instructions to go the station while he was staring off and they took the most direct route. The inside of the car was entirely leather; it even smelled new. He sat uncomfortably still in the vehicle, afraid to say a word. 

Giving a side long glance at this friend, he could see the other was just as uncomfortable in the confined space as he and for that he was somewhat relieved. But Mika finally broke the silence with, “Hey...uh, what's your number? So can make proper plans to meet up tomorrow?”

He went dug into his pockets to find his phone. “Haha, I can never remember it,” he said, “I don't give it to enough people to memorize it.” The home screen flashed that he several messages, mostly from Shinoa and a couple from Yoichi. Well, that told him who was watching the door that night. “Hand me your phone and I'll punch it in.” He would read the messages later.

“Oh, sure.” He handed his phone to Yuu, already on the 'new contacts' screen. 

He filled in the number and handed it back, though a part of him wanted to slide his thumb over the screen and see what might come up. He knew that was wrong however and even worse that he might possibly be starting to believe what Yoichi and Shinoa were suggesting about him being a Templar.

“Yuu? Are you alright? You seem...out of it?” his friend asked worriedly.

“Just thinking is all. Its...Its been so long since I've last seen you, I've no idea what to say.” He laughed, hoping that was a good enough response to cover his true thoughts. They were bad enough even to himself, he didn't want Mika to know them as well.

At the station, Mika went with him inside and stood with him as they waited. An awkward silence settled over them, again. 

“So..here, tomorrow...What time, were you thinking? I could be here around six-ish?" 

“Sure. We can go for coffee or something,” he suggested, a warm smile spread across his face. It was infectious and Yuu was smiling in a moment as well.

“Sounds like a plan. Text me later so I get your number.”

“Oh, right. I should do that.”

The train rumbled into the station after a brief good-bye, Yuuichirou boarded for home.


	4. Intentions

He couldn't bring himself to look at the texts on the train and it took several minutes of pacing about his apartment before he finally picked it back up after he had changed. He knew he was in for it. Shinoa was going to bite his head off via text message.

The first read. 'Yuu, what did Guren say about being here...'

The second, 'Don't you dare go inside. Omg, you did. You idiot.'

The third. 'At least find something for us if you're going to be an idiot.'

The fourth. 'Oh for fucks sake, don't get in the car with him...'

The fifth. 'I can't fucking believe you.'

Yoichi's were at least a little nicer. 'Yuu, please be careful!' and 'haha, shinoa's not very happy with you now. You better be careful the next time you see her.'

He at least responded to Yoichi, 'I'm fine, Mika was concerned for how wet I was from the rain and told me to come inside to get out of it for a bit while he grabbed something. They simply dropped me off at the station instead of driving me the whole way home.'

It took seconds for the other to respond to him, 'Yuu! You're alive, thank goodness. We were worried. Shinoa was ready to get a hold of Guren if you didn't answer us soon.'

Not was not long after he had read the last text that his phone rang in his hand. Shinoa, of course, probably to actually yell at him. He sat down and prepared himself for the verbal lashing.

“Hello?” he answered, trying to play it off as if he had no idea who might be calling him at that late hour.

“Yuuichirou! After you were explicitly told not to come back here! This is the third time this week I've seen you around here, snooping around. Were you just waiting for your friend to show up so you could run into him?!” she shouted, loud enough that held the phone away from his ear.

“Yea, that was the plan. And it worked. I had to, Shinoa! Mika is a friend and I truly don't think he knows what he's into. From what I figured out from just that short meeting, he just runs errands for his parents. His mother, Krul...Tepes? Yea, that's it, she's one of the heads of a department or something.”

“Krul Tepes? You're kidding. She's practically a Grandmaster Templar, Yuu! You can bet your ass that your friend knows everything, they run that order like a family business!”

“Even the adopted ones?”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Mika was adopted by them. That's how I know him, we were in the orphanage together.”

“How old was he?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Answer me.”

“I think...twelve? Thirteen maybe?”

“Young enough...” She was humming loudly as she thought, Yuu could hear it clearly.

“Young enough for what?”

“For them to start training him in their ways. Its too little to work with, Yuu. Guilty by association for now, until you can prove to us otherwise. No doubt, you're going to try and meet up with him again...”

“Tomorrow actually. He's the one that suggested it.”

“Be careful Yuu.”

“If it makes you feel any better we're hanging out around there. Just going for coffee and catching up is all.”

“Now that just sounds like a date.”

“Shinoa! We haven't seen each other in ages, how can it possibly be a date. We talked for five minutes max that whole time we were together.”

“Too busy staring at him probably.” Her tone had taken a lightness too it, teasing him. "I don't blame you, he is kinda cute."

“I was not!” Though indeed he had stared, just a little. Mikaela had very nice eyes, he reflected.

“I'll get Mitsuba to keep an eye on you two, maybe I'll go too. Its been a little while since her and I chatted. Maybe a double date then!” Her laughter was the last straw and he hung up.

Flustered and annoyed, he set the phone aside for the time being. Grabbing his chips, he settled on the sofa to delve through more of the memories. He was at least making good headway in that respect. There were few places left to his ancestor to run with the Piece of Eden, he had to hide it soon and get them off his trail. All the shrines and temples were making for far to obvious locations and those hunting them seemed to be a step ahead of them at every turn. 

In the middle of a fight, the screen for the Brotherhood took over. 

Welcome, Initiate. 

He threw up his hands. “Come on! I was kicking ass there!” he shouted as the connection was stabilized. 

“Its not you, moron. That's something we call the bleed effect,” Guren's lazy voice came across as his face came on the screen. “Make sure you don't mistake yourself for your relative in the memories...But...What the hell did I say about staying focused on the memories?”

“I ran into him on the street,” Yuuichirou argued.

“And went into the complex and then got in his car?”

“He offered.”

“He's a Templar Agent.”

“And he has no idea I'm an assassin or am affiliated with them.”

“You don't know that.”

“If he did know that, one of you guys aren't keeping secrets very well. Templars or Assassins weren't mentioned once in the five minutes we spoke. I didn't break the third Tenet by simply talking to Mikaela!” Yuuichirou shouted, his voice rose with his anger. “If that's all it takes to compromise the Brotherhood, then I best stop interacting with everyone not a part of it.”

Guren sighed and shook his head. “That's not what I meant. You went and deliberately made yourself known to a possible Templar Agent, if they find you in connection with the Brotherhood, they're going to use you to get information. The same way we run surveillance on that building, they'll start on you until it leads them to us. And from what Shinoa has just told me, which you should have reported to me anyways, since you already went against my request, if your friend's mother is who you think it is...No doubt they've already started digging for information on you. Just to be sure their kid isn't hanging around with a possible assassin. So far there shouldn't be anything in your records or such to suggest anything, but you can't be too careful.”

He hung his head as Guren's words were laid like heavy bricks on his shoulders. “I get it, I get it...”

“I hope so...but since you seem to think you have such a good grasp of the tenets, why don't we test your ability on the second...Hide in plain sight when you go out with him. Hide in your very conversation with him to keep him from knowing what you're doing for us.”

The connection was severed at that, leaving Yuu to sit in the room to mull over what was said. The screen returned to the paused memory where it had been interrupted. 

'Used by one or the other,' he thought. 'So much for personal freedoms.'

He had enough of the memories, enough of the talk of Templars and Assassins. It would be nice to talk to Mika and hopefully be able to have a normal day for once. 

\----

Work was painfully dull, though it was most days. Stocking shelves was particularly tedious knowing there was something to truly look forward to after work. He rushed home changed out of his horrendous uniform. Dark jeans and a sweat shirt, the usual when he didn't plan on scaling buildings. Jeans just lacked that one little bit of stretch to them that allowed him to really run.

The skies were clear after the nights rain, though it left the air dense and hot. It didn't bother him much as he made his dash for the station. So long as it didn't rain again, he'd be perfectly happy.

Yuuichirou kept checking his phone for the time or for the promised message from Mikaela. Which arrived as he stepped out of the station and looked around for his friend. 

'Hey! Its Mika, I'm waiting outside. Don't worry, no obnoxious driver to tag along today.'

Yuu laughed to himself at the mention of the driver that obviously been a damper on their night. 'I'm outside the station too, where are you exactly? By a sign or something? I can't see you.'

'Don't worry, I see you.'

The text made him look around more carefully for his friend, but he didn't spot him until Mika was calling his name and waving him over. “There you are,” he said with a smile.

Mika had dressed down immensely. Gone was the suit he had dressed in before for simple pants and a sweater in a creamy yellow. His smile was wide and his arms were held out even wider for a hug. Yuuichirou took it without much thought. 

“Now that you're not soaking, I don't mind so much,” Mika teased.

“I'd have hugged you anyways if it weren't for that damn fancy suit you were wearing. I'm afraid of the kind of dry cleaning bill I'd get for ruining it,” Yuu teased in return as he let his friend go. 

“Nah, I'm sure I could convince my mom to write if off no problem.” He waved it off like it was nothing and started off, gesturing for Yuu to follow him. “Come on, there's a nice little place down here. I can't ever remember the name of it though.”

“Yet you remember where it is?” Yuu asked as he followed not far behind. 

“I go there often enough, you'd think by know I'd know it, but noooo.”

“You're as bad as me and my phone number.”

It was the same cafe that Shinoa had pulled them into the day he first saw Mikaela. He hadn't been there since however, and it wasn't hard to play it off as if he had never been there. The staff certainly didn't recognize him from his one visit, but they did Mika however and had his usual latte ready and waiting for him by the time he got to the register. 

While Yuu was busy ordering, he could see Mika slipping the barista the money for the order. 

“You don't have to buy it for me, I can afford my own you know.”

“Oh? Well...I guess I'll just take my act of simple kindness-”

Yuu sighed and waved it off. “If you're gonna be like that. Go ahead. I get to save.”

“Don't complain then.” Mika's laughter was a welcome sound and he was glad to see him in such high spirits. 

They sat down in a seat by the window, across from each other. Yuu had a perfect view of the door when Shinoa walked in with a blonde haired girl he could only guess was Mitsuba. He hadn't met her yet in person, but their conversation the night before was not the first time he had heard her name mentioned. He locked eyes with them for just a moment before they moved on to make their order. They sat just out of sight.

He tried to keep them out of mind, and pay attention to what Mika was saying, “-such a nice little place. We should make this like...I dunno, our go to place to meet up.”

The light from the windows practically illuminated his face. “Uh..y-yea that sounds like a good idea,” he replied. “Its better than anything I can think of. Not that there's much by my end anyway.” Mika's eyes were dazzling, framed perfectly by his softly curling hair.

“Then that's settled. We should really actually hang out now that we know its easy for us to meet up,” Mika continued, “Its..its actually been rather hard to make new friends since I was adopted. You and the others were so much like family, I didn't want to try and make any more. Even when I started to realize I should, no one was interested it seemed.”

“I get what you're saying. It hasn't been easy for me either. Man, I was so mad when you were gone. It almost felt like you abandoned me back then.” Mika looked horrified at the confession, but Yuuichirou explained, “Of course, I don't think that anymore. We were kids and they took away my best friend, what else was I supposed to think?”

“Be happy for me, for one. I wish they would have taken you with us. It would've been a hundred times more interesting. In truth, they might be wealthy, but they're boring.” Mika rolled his eyes. “Well, really its just mother, but one of her co-workers hangs around enough that I might as well call him a 'step-dad'. He's a bit of a creep though. They've been pushing me to go school for science and stuff, but I'm not feeling it.”

“Why science?”

“To be a part of the company. Mother says if I do well enough she can guarantee me a job somewhere in it. Probably under her department, its some medical research thing...brain related I believe.”

“The company, its Abstergo right?”

“Yea, one of its branches.”

“I heard weird things about them.”

Mika laughed. “I do too and with how hush hush they are about things, I'm almost inclined to believe it.”

“Really?”

“They let me into the main building no problem, but they won't let me anywhere by mother's office.”

“Well, most companies are like that right? 'Authorized Personnel Only', type thing.”

“But when your mom is practically a CEO...You'd think they'd let her kid away with somethings.”

“Have you actually tried to get into some of this restricted places?”

“Uh...No, of course not. They said I can't go, I don't go.”

“Come on! Where's your sense of adventure, Mika! Why would you even complain about not being able to go anywhere if you haven't tried?"

“I don't want to get in trouble. That's serious stuff they do. Besides, I don't think being her kid is like a 'Get out of jail free' card.”

Yuuichirou sighed. 'Well, I tried on that front.' “You're just scared of getting in trouble.”

“Of course. For good reason. You're the trouble maker, always have been as far as I can remember. I see it hasn't changed.”

Both of them laughed, their drinks largely forgotten on the table between them as they continued to talk back and forth. Just about what they had done since they had been separated and places for the future. Mika seemed as uncertain as Yuu, neither having any idea where to take their lives from that point. 

Shinoa and Mitsuba left before they did, Yuu having watched them go over Mika's shoulder before suggesting that he should get going as well. It was getting late and he had to work, but promised that he would text him again when they could maybe meet up. That seemed to enough for Mika who smiled once more and walked him to the station.


	5. Informant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The more I write this fic, the more I realize just what kind of direction I want to take it. And I know its a slow...really slow build to the shippy stuff but bear with me, its starting here and is going to get more fun next chapter, I promise!
> 
> I'd also like to thank everyone for reading up to this point and for the kudos. Thank you~!

Though days passed without any face to face meetings, Yuuichirou and Mikaela kept in constant contact. His text message inbox had never been so full. Though it was mostly jokes and bad puns between them, neither seemed to run out of things to say. And the more they talked, the more the other Assassins pressed him to find out if Mikaela was a Templar or if he could be brought to their side. 

The Brotherhood themselves could find little about Mikaela in any database. For all intents and purposes, he was an average citizen. But his connection to the Templars was absolutely undeniable. With his adopted mother, Krul Tepes being just one step below Grandmaster and several of her own underlings and workers at the facility being known Templars. Several well known Templars had been seen coming and going from the site. Ferid Bathory, Crowely Eusford, Chess Bell and Horn Skuld to name a few. Guren had sent him little summarized files of each of them, with a photo attached so he knew who to watch for. Mikaela had been seen in the company of at least Ferid more than once. 

Guilty by association. Yuuichirou could clearly recall Shinoa's words. No doubt that would be the final word on Mikaela.

Unless Yuuichirou could bring him to their side and fast. 

\---

'Hey, I need to talk to you, face to face.' The text came from Mikaela early in the morning; actually the phone's incoming message tone had been what woke him up in the first place. 

He had thought about sending a similar message when he decided to tell Mika about the whole Assassin business. He knew he shouldn't and he was taking a risk, breaking the third tenet for sure, but he couldn't keep going in circles and grasping at shadows. 'Where and when?' was all he could send. He was Mika's best friend after all, he had to be there if his friend needed him.

'The cafe? At noon? Or do you work and that's too early?'

'Noon is fine.'

'See you then.'

'See ya.'

The cafe was certainly not the kind of place Yuu had in mind to talk about it, but...he pushed it aside. What Mika wanted to say came first. After all, he couldn't just derail what his friend wanted to say. Sure the Assassin versus Templar business was important, but he could save it for another time.

\---

It was shaping up to be a warm day. A light breeze blew through the city. Yuu had tied his sweater to his waist while he waited for Mika under the cafe's canopy in the shade.

He was late. Already Yuu had sent a couple messages asking were he was and if he was going to be long. So far, there had been no reply. But he had his answers a few moments later. Mika came around the corner of the block with a furious scowl though he stared at the ground as he walked with fists clenched at his sides. Practically floating right behind him was the Templar that Yuu recognized immediately as Ferid. It took every fiber of his will power not to run as he had been instructed too. 

When Mika looked up and saw Yuu, his expression softened and became apologetic. He stopped a couple feet away. “S-sorry, Yuu. I'm afraid I'll have to cancel our plans...An unexpected visitor decided to check on me today,” he said, frowning and glancing at Ferid. 

The taller of the two paid Mika's anger no mind and simply gave them a sickly sweet smile. “Truly, don't mind me! Your mother is simply worried of the company you're keeping and that's taking you away so often from home. She worried you're getting caught up in some nefarious business,” he said, as if it were all a joke. 

Yuu shivered as Ferid shot him a look that said enough. The Templar that stood before him knew exactly what Yuuchirou was. He held his tongue on that topic, however, decided that some light could come from the situation. “What? Is this guy your babysitter, Mika?” Yuu gestured toward Ferid while giving a coy grin.

“N-no! This is Ferid...He's the one that I said is...like a step-father...”

“Creepy Uncle seems a better fit.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and tried his best to give the older of the three a judging overlook. 

Ferid's eyes narrowed on Yuu. “Is this really the company you keep, Mika? Not very nice.”

“...Well, he's not wrong. It is kind of creepy that you follow me around. I mean, I am an adult. Adults keep tabs on children not other adults...I don't care if mother asked you to keep an eye on me. I'm not doing anything wrong just because I hang around with someone who can't hold his tongue.”

Shifting his eyes from Yuu to Mika, Ferid gave the blond the same menacing look. 

Yuuichirou himself gave Mika a look that he hoped came across as, 'Thanks for throwing me under the bus there.'

Another voice called from a ways down the street, “Hey, there you are, Ferid. I thought I saw you a minute ago.” 

Yuuichirou shifted uncomfortably as the other approached, taller than the three of them and certainly build to fight, it was without a doubt another of the Templars that Guren had warned him about. Crowley had come with a very specific warning; do not engage. Crowley was responsible for several of the deaths and disappearances of Assassins in the area and suspected of others going missing elsewhere. 

“Crowley! I thought you weren't supposed to be back for another couple of days?” Ferid asked, turning his attention away from the two younger men. 

“Ah, I managed to get the deal through much easier than anticipated,” Crowley explained as the two shook hands before their conversation became friendly, idle chatter. 

Yuuichirou leaned closer to Mika, reaching out and tugging the other's shirt lightly. He nodded down the street and starting walking away slowly. The blond took one look over his shoulder before following him. 

Once out of earshot, Mika said, “He'll find us again. He always seems to know where to look for me.”

“Then, I'll take you somewhere he won't think off because I doubt he knows where it is,” Yuu answered, checking over his shoulder before leading them on a round-about way back to the station. “You have enough for a ticket for two stops down?”

Mika scoffed. “Of course.”

“Then get one and meet me on the platform.”

He stood in the open until Mika joined him, then tucked them into a small alcove out of immediate sight. His heart beat hard in his and he could feel the adrenaline rushing. Running from Templars and taking the one they were meant to keep an eye on with him; what was he thinking. As the train rumbled up and came to a stop, they climbed on board. It was a quiet time, few passengers dotted the train car as they picked a seat. While a crowded train would have offered the opportunity to blend in and hide amongst the throng, the near empty cars allowed him to look down to either end and see if anyone was coming for them. He could see who was getting on or getting off and keep track of where they went. But someone could do the same to them.

“I'm going to get in so much trouble,” Mika lamented, drawing Yuuichirou out of his tactical thoughts.

“Feel free to put it all on me. I did drag you away,” Yuu laughed, though it died down quickly so he could ask, “What as it that you wanted to talk to me about?”

Mika looked at him with apologetic eyes again and a sad smile. “Its..its about those two actually, in a way. I...” He looked around nervously and lowered his voice. “Not here...Where are you taking us?”

“My place. Its about the only thing I can think of right now. Its not like I can take you to work and hide in the staff room and talk while I'm not clocked in, not to mention its not like I could smuggle you back there in the first place.”

Mika snorted a laugh and shook his head. “Your place will probably be the safest anyway. The less I know about where we're heading the better.”

“Probably best we don't take a direct route there, just in case.” 

Never Compromise the Brotherhood. The words rung hollow in his head. He wasn't sure what Ferid wanted with Mika and he sure as hell didn't want to stick around with Crowley sneaking about. But he had to get out of there and Mika was no safer with them. 

It wasn't until he felt a grip on his fingers that he noticed Mika was holding his hand between them. 'For comfort,' Yuu told himself. 'Its just because he needs the reassurance. Nothing new. We'd do it as kids.' But he felt his face heat with a blush anyway and looked out the nearest window, away from Mika. He kept his hand right where it was however, taking his own comfort from the gesture.

\----

After wandering around a couple blocks, Yuuichirou finally led Mikaela to his place. As they entered, Yuu hurried about the place to set things in order and give it some semblance of home instead of just a place to crash. Mika stifled laughter the entire time. Yuu shut him up by tossing him a can of soda and telling him to sit his ass down. He picked the far corner of the sofa, so he sat in the opposite to face him. 

“Alright, Mika, what's wrong?” he asked, knowing fully well that 'I need to talk to you' usually meant something was amiss. Merely asking the question made the space between them tense.

“It...its hard to explain,” he started, looking down at the can in his hands. “It was normal at first, mom would asked me who I was going out to see. At first she was happy to hear I had been reunited with my best friend, but a couple of days ago...She asked me to stop contacting you. She refused to answer me when I asked why...”

Yuuichirou figured his pause was as good a time as any to be blunt. “Probably because her and the other Templars have dug up that I'm a part of the Brotherhood...” he said, though his voice was barely more than a whisper. He had meant to say it with more confidence, but could not find the power to do so. 

“You know?” Mika raised his head suddenly. “I...I've come across things. Since we first spoke in the cafe about looking into things that were off limits...I...uh...did some digging into files. Things I normally wouldn't bother to but...What's all this business with Templars and Assassins? Some age old fight for relics? I've seen it mentioned far more than what a medical research team should be..."

“So...you know nothing about this, then?” Yuu asked, his heart beat fast in his chest. He could declare Mikaela innocent in this whole mess. “You're not actually one of them?”

His friend shook his head. “No, but...I was worried back there, Ferid-”

“Ferid and Crowley are both Templar Agents,” he finished for him. “I know. I nearly panicked myself when I saw Ferid alone, much less the other.”

“You know Crowley?”

“From the data we've collected. He's responsible for a lot of the missing or dead Assassins in this area.”

Mika covered his mouth to hide his horror, but Yuu could see it in his eyes. “Under...Under my mother's orders I bet.”

“Maybe, maybe not. She isn't a Grandmaster is she?”

“Grandmaster?”

“A Templar leader of sorts...Like we have Mentors and Master Assassins. They have a Grandmaster.”

“Oh...”

“We think there's someone higher than Krul still.”

“They know about you, you know. They know you're an assassin.”

“You mean Ferid and Crowley? Or just the Templar Order in general?”

“Ferid and Crowely. Ferid was told to keep an eye on me in case I came to see you. I think they know...that I know...”

“The others I worke with were certain you were one of them. They already thought you were a Templar or that they were training you to be one.”

The blond shook his head. “Mom never mentioned it. At least...not openly.” Yuu could see him thinking it over, searching his memory for something that made sense. “Her pushing me into the sciences...working for Abstergo...by extension-”

“You'd be a Templar. You'd have to swear to secrecy and probably only once you joined them would she let you into their Order proper;y,” Yuu speculated. It made enough sense to him. “Mika, tell me specifically what you read about in those files. It could be important to my mission. Did it mention an Apple of Eden?”

“Apple of Eden...Yea, it did! They were looking for it. Said something about keeping an eye on someone named Narumi?”

Yuuichirou furrowed his brows, trying to recall the name. He shook his head. “I don't know that one...I should pass it along to Guren though, just in...Oh! Better yet.” He took out his phone and looked up Shinoa's number. 

He sent her a simple text. 'Do you know someone by the name of Narumi in the Brotherhood?'

“Yuu?”

“Asking to see if someone else I know, knows them.”

“Who is it?”

“...Did those files mention someone by the name of Shinoa?”

“Yea, they did.”

He gulped. “Yoichi? Shiho?...Guren?”

He nodded solemnly.

“Shit...”

His phone beeped and he checked it, expecting Shinoa's reply. 'Yea, how do you know him?'

'The Templars have been informed to keep an eye on him.'

A few moments of silence before it rang. He answered it and put it on speaker between him and Mika. He put his fingers to his lips, asking for his friend to be quiet.

“Yuu? Are you there?” she asked.

“Yea, I'm here.”

“How the fuck do you know that? How do you know the Templars are keeping tabs on Narumi?”

“Uh..”

“Is it your friend? Did he tell you? Yuu, you were told to be careful about him, he could be feeding you information from them!”

“I'm sitting right here,” Mika interrupted, much to Yuuichirou's displeasure.

“Mika! Oh man, she's going to kill me now for sure...”

“You have me on speaker?! You better be somewhere where no one can over here this!”

“Home?”

“You brought a suspected Templar...TO YOUR PLACE?!”

“I'm not a Templar! I just found about this stuff the other day! I'm telling Yuu, what I learned from...snooping around...At his suggestion I might add, which...I think they found out about.”

“I have a really hard time believing that...but...Narumi is on an important mission that's directly related to Yuu...If you're right...Guren has to be told now, before any more information is sent to Narumi. Yuu, don't go through any more of the memories before we get a hold of him and the rest of his team.” Yuu kept it too himself, but he guessed it was Narumi that would've been sent to retrieve the Apple of Eden once he located it in the memories.

“Shinoa...They know about me already, they know about you, about Yoichi and Shiho,” Yuu added.

“Mitsuba?”

He looked over to Mika who nodded and answered, “I remember seeing a name like that in the file too.”

“Damnit...They're onto the Initiates now...Mika, was it?”

“Yes?”

“I...I may not trust you a hundred percent, but thank you for this. Even if its just a heads up. Is there, some way you can get any more information for us?”

“Not since Yuu here practically kidnapped me from under Ferid and Crowley's nose.”

“Yuu, I swear if you were anywhere near those two.”

“There wasn't much of a choice! Ferid practically escorted Mika to meet me today and Crowley tagged along just to talk to Ferid!” He tried to explain.

“When those two started talking though, I doubt our escape was really noticed.” The blond laughed quietly. “Its funny really. I could get away with so much if Crowley came over while Ferid was babysitting me while I was younger.”

“Ferid was your babysitter?” Shinoa sounded completely unimpressed. “They must have had plans for you if they put a damn Templar in charge of keeping an eye on you.”

“Maybe they did, but they never said anything blatantly to me...Oh, the files...the files themselves, like the ones I got the day I ran into you, Yuu! Oh man, what if it was to make a break in the chain of command? An extra pair of hands to distance themselves from each other?”

“I doubt its that deep, Mika,” Shinoa said. “In this day and age of emails and instant messaging...Do you even know what the Templars do? What they want, Mika?”

“Ah...No?”

“Yuu, explain that too him while I get in touch with Guren and the other Masters...He may need to get caught up and caught up quickly if he has been found digging into the wrong information. The adopted son of the next Grandmaster or not, that's not going to go over lightly.”

She hung up.


	6. Safety and Peace

They sat in silence across from one another for a long time. The weight of their situation hanging over them like a thick, dark cloud. Yuuichirou could not even begin to explain everything, he was barely grasping it all himself though he'd been in the Brotherhood for well over a years time.

It was Mikaela who broke the silence first. “Yuu...All this business with 'Assassins' and 'Templars' makes me uneasy. I don't think I want to know any more about it.” 

Yuuichirou watched as Mika wrapped his arms around himself and looked at his friend with a worried look. “Its a lot to take in, I understand...” he explained, “I remember when Guren told me about it all. But once you know, you can't deny it. You start noticing things and the little things are actually much bigger problems and other stuff starts to make more sense...I..I can't explain it, Mika. Well, not that part, the history bit and what the Assassins and Templars stand for, yeah, I can explain that part...But...its fundamental to our Brotherhood, its up to you to decided.” He finished with a wide smile and moved closer to his friend, putting his hands on his shoulders. “Mika, trust me in this. I'll keep you safe. But, you know about all this now and its best you make an informed choice about it.”

The blond slowly unfurled his arms and wrapped them around Yuu instead, holding close to Yuu while hiding his face against his shoulder. “You're the one that got me into this in the first place. You suggested I go looking into things I wasn't supposed to!” His voice was muffled by his shirt.

“Hey! You're the one that did it in the first place. It wasn't as if I twisted your arm to do it.” Mika lifted his head to rest it on shoulder as he slipped his own arms to hold him closer. “I won't let them take you from me again,” he whispered. His heart was pounding in his chest again and the fluttering feeling came to his gut as Mika gave him a bit of a squeeze.

“Thank you,” he heard the other whisper. “All that time without you as it was...that was enough.” He lifted his head, sniffling quietly. The barest beginning of tears were forming in his brilliant, blue eyes as Yuu studied his face closely. “I hope you're not in trouble over this...over me being around?”

“With the Brotherhood? Oh, the first time I saw you I was in trouble...” Yuuichirou launched himself into a retelling of the events. Highly dramatized and exaggerated (leaving out the bit where he took a video of Mika, which had been long since deleted), he explained what he was doing with the memories with the help of the Animus technology. Explaining what the Brotherhood itself stood for and its goals was harder, but Mika seemed to grasp the ideals of the it easily enough. He tried to make it easy for him to understand and accept, but Yuu was not the best teacher and he worried much of his explanation came off wrong. None the less, his dear friend listened.

All the while, Mikaela had made himself comfortable leaning against Yuuichirou's chest. Every time, he shifted, Yuu felt it, but there was nothing embarrassing about their closeness. It was no different to how they'd cuddle together next to one another in bed to read or even just for a nap when they were younger. It was familiar and comforting. He asked a lot of questions and Yuu did not have answers for all of them. He tried to as best he could, but he was no expert on the Brotherhood. Even Yoichi or Shiho knew more than he did, he had to admit. They had, of course, been in the Brotherhood longer, even if they had been recruited in the same manner that he had been. 

And just as he explained how Guren got a hold of him, the light on the webcam on the TV blinked repeatedly, telling him that a connection was waiting to be made. It was only then that his face flushed and he untangled himself from the warmth that came from his dear friend. 

“It must be Guren,” he said. “No one else uses it like this...I think.” He turned on the TV and allowed the connection to be made once they had made themselves presentable. It was not Guren who looked at him after the Initiate screen disappeared. Instead, a man, who Yuuichirou had never seen before, gave them a friendly smile. Though the picture was dim, it was obvious that it was the same place that Guren contacted him from, this white haired man seemed perfectly at home. 

“Hey! You must be Yuu. Guren's told me about you,” he said. “I'm Shinya, before you panic at a stranger suddenly talking to you out of the blue. Usually, I dig through memories like you do, but today I'm taking Guren's place while he argues on your behalf to the Council.” 

“Argues on my behalf?” Yuu asked. 

“It was determined that you broke the third tenet. You put the Brotherhood's position here in jeopardy,” Shinya explained. “I hate being the messenger for such harsh news, but...Oh! I didn't even notice him there, is that the one that all this fuss is over?” He pointed off to the side, toward Mika.

Yuuichirou looked over to Mika apologetically. “Y-yea, that's him.”

“He looks far too innocent to be a Templar! I can see why you're so adamant that he's not.”

Though the comment didn't come off as a truly teasing remark, Yuu still felt his face flush with colour. “W-what will the Council do if Guren's arguing doesn't work?” he asked, trying to get the topic off his friend.

“They'll probably dispatch a team to...uh...tie up loose ends?”

“They'll kill Yuu...because he talked to me?” Mika interrupted. “I..Yuu! You never said you were in this much trouble for talking to me with the suspicions of me being a Templar!”

“I did mention I was in trouble...but I may have down played just how much trouble. And I did it too keep you from worrying too much, or thinking that it was your fault. You do have a habit of blaming yourself for things that aren't your fault."

“But this is my fault! I should've just sent you a text saying that we couldn't meet up today...I should have just stayed at home when Ferid showed up.”

“If you did that, you probably would not have gotten another chance to meet Yuu again,” Shinya speculated. “By not meeting up with him, you admit your guilt in being involved with him at all and, if I might try and put myself in a Templar mindset here, it probably means that you are really trying to hide something from them. It makes you suspicious in their eyes. There would be no winning.”

Yuu watched as his friend's shoulders dropped and he sighed resignedly. “What am I going to do now?”

“Sit tight and hope Krul doesn't know where Yuuichirou lives. For the time being, Yuu, I was told to ask you to try and work through the last of the memories and see if you can't find the Apple of Eden. Regardless of the Council's decision, we still need that information and we need to get it out of where ever it is before the Templars can get their hands on it. You know how important that is.”

“Why should he help you guys if you might just decided to kill him?!” Mika snapped suddenly. 

“Would me saying I understand what I did wrong help matters?” He reached over and patted Mika's shoulder to try and calm him. “I know I went about it the wrong way, but I won't regret it and I know it was the right choice...Leaving him in the hands of Ferid and Crowley...I might as well have broken the first tenet too.”

Shinya nodded. “I'm not saying you made the wrong call. I think having Mika here is a big help. We got word from Narumi a little while ago. He has been hiding out with his team for a while because they know they're being watched. To have this confirmed on the Templar side...We know to get someone else to be the stand-by team to retrieve the Apple.” Another grin slowly spread across Shinya's face and his face lit up with excitement. Yuuichirou could see him getting a plan together in his head. “I think I know just how to deal with this. Get on those memories and I'll get everything in place.”

The screen flickered before returning to the animus's main menu.

“Well, that was enlightening,” Mika muttered. “Is that really the kind of people you associate with? The kind that are willing to kill off someone for merely suspicions?”

“I did go against direct instructions,” he replied with a shrug. “I mean...I did know the consequences when I tried to get in touch with you. Its not like this comes as a surprise. But, making sure you were safe was more important. If you think the Brotherhood is the only one of the two guilty of killing its own members for insubordination....” He left it off at that and let Mikaela fill in the gaps.

“The Templars are just as likely to do the same to me, now.”

Yuuichirou could think of nothing to say to comfort him. He opted for simply hugging him again. Mika's seemingly perfect world was coming down around him as the truth made itself known. The darkness that lay just beneath the surface of Abstergo was beast of lies and deceit and it was being forced into the light right before him. He could see that Mika was conflicted. The family that had chosen him or the friend that never forgot him. Be a hand in humanity's subjugation or fight for its freedom. All he could do was hope that he made the right choice. Heaven forbid that he chose the Templars over them. Over him! Yuu would find himself at odds with someone he knew he could not harm and there was no neutral ground to pick. Now that he knew, he had to choose.

“Mika...I know this is a hard time...but Shinya there was right. I need to get through those memories...I've seen what that thing can do through them, that thing can't be allowed to fall into the hands of evil.” He could buy him time though, to think about it and digest all he had been told.

His friend was silent for a moment. “...Hands of evil? You make this sound like a fantasy movie...”

“I have thought that this could all be some horrible sci-fi like nightmare before, but I keep waking up to it every morning.”

Mika let out a quiet laugh and tucked his head into Yuu's shoulder again. “A nightmare..."

“Uh...but really, I need to do the memory thing...that means...I need my hands and the controller, where ever it went...” He glanced about the living trying to find it. Luckily for him it was where he last remembered putting it, but that was across the room, on the TV stand. And before he thought about getting up and getting it, he pressed a quick kiss to Mika's cheek. It was only once it was in his hands and he had to sit down again, beside Mika, that the implications of what he had done dawned on him. He gulped and slowly sat back down, trying not to look at him and hoping the other had just thought it was accidental, or anything besides a proper kiss.

The other boy had frozen in place, hiding his eyes with his hair though his cheeks were a bright pink. “Y-Yuu?” he mumbled, slowly raising a hand to his cheek. “Why did you...?”

His mind raced for a suitable answer. Nothing could really excuse that or make it mean nothing without hurting him. He had only wanted Mika to feel comforted, it was what his ancestor would have done to his lover. Yuu cursed his luck at the awful timing of the 'Bleed Effect' taking a hold of him. He couldn't deny it though, Mika was his best friend, his only friend and it made sense then, what he was waiting for, why he never really bothered to try for any one else. There was no one. There was only Mikaela. 

But that was just creepy, he couldn't say something like that! He coughed awkwardly and instead said, “It was- I only-...Its just-” he stammered as the words failed to come to his tongue. “To remind you I'm here...for you. I'll always be here...” He put his focus on the screen in front of him as he flipped through the different menus and screens.

“Yuu, this is an awful time for a confession of love...if that's what you're getting at.” Mikaela's voice was uneasy and his embarrassment showed through in it.

“Shut up! This isn't easy! But...yea, I guess it is.” 

He heard a sigh of relief from Mika and curiosity got the best of him as he glanced over at him. “I thought it was just me...” he said, “You've been on your own for so long, around so many people...I thought for sure you must have found someone else in all that time away from me.”

He caught Mika's eyes and they stared at each other for a moment. “And leave you all alone? Never. It never occurred to me to try for anyone but you.”

“No wonder you were so okay with hugging me earlier, I was so worried I was just making things awkward by holding onto you.”

“Not at all. You're warm and...very easy to...uh...cuddle.” The word was awkward, he wasn't sure if that was really what he should be using, but nothing else seemed to work. 

“Then let me cuddle with you again...while do the...memory thing? I could use it after all this...craziness."

It was infinitely awkward at first as they tried to arrange themselves comfortably on the small sofa. Of course, Yuu had the long term in mind. He didn't plan on moving for a while once he started, not that he really could. He had a habit of being completely absorbed into the memories and forgetting the passage of time entirely in the real world beyond the memories. Yet, Mika's presence, never mind the constant press of his body against his and the sheer amount of warmth the other gave off, reminding him just where he was. Mika saw the resemblance as well as he watched the memories play out on the screen, though he said so by snickering, “I'm surprised you haven't mistakenly called me by his name yet.”

“Its nothing like yours,” Yuu had argued, before getting caught up in the scene again. 

“He said 'Safety and Peace' to that other guy, why?” Mika asked after a while.

“Its a thing Assassins did way back when we had like headquarters and stuff. Kinda like to say, 'Hey, friend here from the Brotherhood',” he answered. “Then they say it back as if to say 'This is a safe place, rest easy'.”

“Do you guys do that when you meet up?”

“No, but we totally should!”

He laughed quietly, head resting on Yuuichirou's chest as they lay together. Minutes or hours, it was hard to tell, were passing in a calm blur. Mika made commentary as they watched the memories. How strange it was that they were simply watching it like a movie; not Yuu's idea of a good first date, but it wasn't like he could just take Mika out to dinner. 

Order pizza on the other hand, he could do that at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought you all should know that my roommate offered to order pizza just after I finished this chapter. Prophetic or what? Big things are planned for the next chapter, the reveal of the Apple of Eden's location, Shinya's plan, and Guren's behind the scenes actions!


	7. Towards the Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, this chapters a long one. I apologize! It just didn't seem to want to flow as planned. Vague writing is vague and rushed as we get the serious action! I get so excited even as a writer~

It was no fancy dinner, but it was something. Between his stinging eyes from staring at the screen for so long and simply forgetting to eat while doing so, it was a welcome break. Mikaela, having been on top of Yuuichirou at the time, had raced to the door to pay for it, though Yuu had argued it was his treat. Getting up to chase him to the door however, proved to be a challenge as his legs didn't quite move as he'd like them too from being still for so long. 

“Mika...,” he whined from the floor as the other returned, “I may need some help getting back up.”

Light laughter reached his ears and he heard the footsteps pad closer to him until he could see the sock feet. “I'm not sure I can with how you've managed to squish yourself between the couch and coffee table,” he teased, squatting down to poke at him and ruffle his hair into a worse mess than it was.

Yuuichirou looked up and stuck his tongue out before sitting up reluctantly. Mika only continued to laugh as he moved to take his seat on the couch again. Pulling himself up onto his feet, he stretched every which way he could manage. He was stiffer than he thought and sore as well. He was still stretching and working the kinks out of his neck when he sat back down as well.

The smell made him ravenous and his stomach growled loudly for food. Mika seemed to eat it with dainty hands, being ever so careful not to make a mess, quite the opposite of himself who simply stuffed his face, licking his fingers and lips clean without much thought. Any semblance of manners had long since left him while living alone, lucky for him the other beside him didn't seem to mind. Or simply wasn't paying attention to his awful eating habits. 

Between the two of them, the pizza didn't last long, neither did his stash of sodas and other fizzy drinks for the rest of the night as he tried to blitz through the memories. They were so close, he could feel it! It was like reaching the climax in a video game and knowing the final boss was just a level or two away. But between his own yawns and Mika nodding off and jostling himself awake, there was no denying that it was time for bed.

“Mika...You should go to bed,” he said, “Its the door on the right, just down the hall there.” He pointed absently, not even sure if the other was watching. 

With a quiet, sleepy voice, he replied, “What about you? You're not going to sleep on the couch in your own place are you?”

“Its only polite to offer the guest the bed...”

“Look, I know its only been a like five hours since you not so directly confessed your crush on me, but come on.”

Yuu blushed brightly. “It has nothing to do with that!” It had a little to do with that, mostly that he wasn't sure if he could sleep with someone suddenly beside him. But Mika's fingers were entwined with his as the other sat up, tugging him to come along. 

“If its so awkward for you, I'll take the couch. You've got more work to do tomorrow...Oh, work...” Mika gave him a concerned look. “Do you tomorrow?”

Yuu had to think for a minute with his tired brain. “Hmm...Nope. If I did...I think with all the things going on, I'd take a sick day.” But he sat up as Mika pulled him up.

“Good...Probably for the best.”

Yuu nodded as he yawned and easily let the blond, his boyfriend, lead him down the hall. He was going to have to get used to thinking of him in that way. Friend had come easily, family only after Mika had beaten it into him when he first joined them. 'Getting to know one another' as he called it. Boyfriend was a step he had considered but having it happen was something else entirely. He shook the thoughts away, that was something best left to a not so tired brain.

He dug through his drawers for something for Mika to wear, at least they were roughly the same size, he guessed by looking at him. Inch or two taller than him, but that wouldn't bother the fit too much. He tossed him a baggy t-shirt and light pajama pants. “You can wear those,” he explained as the other fumbled to catch them.

“Ah..o-okay.” 

Yuu grabbed his own and excused himself to the washroom to change. Its not like he was nervous about Mika seeing him, quite the opposite. Though a part of him was sure his groggy brain would just not care in that moment. Or as he learned as he thought about it, would care a little more as he noticed his own bright blush in the bathroom mirror. Just thinking of it made him imagine the, rather innocent, action of simply changing into pjs into a more...sensual experience. He slapped his cheeks a bit and tried to think of anything but that, anything but Mika climbing onto the bed on all hours, crawling closer...'No, no! Stop that!' he told himself, before resorting to splashing his face with cold water. 'Not now!' 

He returned to find Mika sitting on the edge of the bed, looking rather lost and uncomfortable. “Haha, what took you so long? Did you fall asleep in there? Get lost on the way back?”

Yuu turned off the lights and went to the far side to climb into bed. “Did not!” He made himself comfortable, on his side, facing Mika as he lifted the cover to invite the other under it.

It took seconds for Mika to be curled up on his side again. It different, but not unpleasant. It would definitely take getting used to if they intended on hiding out at his place until the whole mess blew over. But this was for the best. At least he knew Mika was safe and having him there made him feel safer too.

\---

When he woke that morning, Mikaela was not beside him and for a moment he panicked. (Going so far as to pat the bed as if he was searching for his phone instead of a person.) He could hear noises from the hall. Whistling? Clinking of plates and other noises he hadn't heard since he left home. He stepped out into the hall and towards the kitchen to find Mika just setting the pan in the sink.

“Ah, you're finally awake, Yuu-chan,” he said with a wide smile, once he had noticed the other standing in the doorway.

“Finally? What's that supposed to mean? What time is it?” he asked, standing straight and coming over with the full intention of snooping in on what Mika had been cooking. The smell was enough to say bacon was involved. 

Mika reached for his phone, flicking the screen on to see the time. Yuu didn't have a clock set up anywhere, he even used his phone as an alarm clock in the morning when he needed it. “Nearly noon.”

“Already? Sheesh, I must've been more tired than I thought. Speaking of which, why are you up so early?” Scrambled eggs and some bacon sat on a couple plates just behind Mika. He tried to remember when he bought the bacon, but decided he better not and just eat it. 

“Its a habit. Internal clock from getting up at the same time every day.” He handed Yuu a plate before grabbing the other. “I just realized that you don't have a kitchen table...Or chairs for that matter.”

Yuu was already stuffing his face as he walked over to the couch. “Yea, didn't think I needed one. The coffee table here is enough.”

“Not even for visitors?”

“Nope.”

“What if your parents came to see you?”

“We go out for dinner usually. They don't bother coming up here.”

Mika followed him to couch and sat beside him. “Well, I suppose that's something. I'm glad to hear that you at least still talk to them. With how you talk about them, I was worried you cut all contact with them.”

“Hell no. Just because I like being on my own here, doesn't mean I don't like them. They were nice enough to adopt me in the first place. It would be a slap in the face if I didn't seem somewhat grateful for that at least.”

Mika shook his head. “That doesn't make it sound any better.”

“Ah, I didn't mean that as I'm just doing it to be nice! I really am grateful!” 

“You mean like how I made you breakfast, you've already stuffed your face and I still haven't gotten a simple thanks?” Though it sounded serious, Mika finished with a laugh and Yuuichirou knew he was joking with him.

“I'll thank you when I know I haven't been poisoned by your cooking.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” He sounded so scandalized, Yuu howled with laughter.

“Oh, nothing...Just that...I'm not certain of your cooking skills. You look like you've lived a pampered life, how do I know you've even cooked before?” Though it was fantastic. Yuuichirou guessed that he must've raided his cupboards for some spices or something, because it sure wasn't bland eggs. The bacon was the perfect balance of crispy without being burnt. There was nothing left on his plate already. And, he didn't cook it, anything cooked by someone else was already a hundred times better. The effort alone was too much some days.

“I'll have you know I can too! I do often!”

“Really? I never would have guessed.” His sarcasm was thick, punctuated by an eye roll.

“You're joking, you have to be!”

“Of course I am, Mika.” He leaned over and kissed his cheek quickly before getting up to set his dish in the sink. That seemed to be enough to quiet him and it continued even as he returned to his seat. He took a moment to examine him as he made himself comfortable, he hadn't changed back into his clothes yet and his hair was a fluffy mess. He was hiding his face in those curls and staring down at his plate. Yuu couldn't keep the grin off his face upon seeing the other's sudden shyness.

Mika spent the next hour in silence, though he was not without affection. He cuddled up to Yuu's side again as he scaled mountains in the memories. Both were on the edge of their seats and a hum of anticipation seemed to resonate throughout him. This had to be it, this had to be the final resting place of the Apple of Eden.

Placed inside a crudely made shrine on a silken pillow, out of sight and out of mind in somewhere in Mount Fuji's side. Exact location wasn't his problem, the informants, like Shinya, would deal with that and just as he wondered if they had gotten coordinates, the screen flickered.

Welcome, Assassin. 

He had to blink and squint at the screen. It did say Assassin, not Initiate. He had made it properly into the order a part of him was gleeful, but how long was that going to last? Had Guren been successful in winning over the Council to let him live for breaking the third tenet? Mika sat up, not wanting to be caught cuddling up to Yuu.

Once more as the image came into focus as the connection made, it was Shinya who answered. “Congrats, Yuu! You've got just the location of the Piece of Eden. Now, to get you there to retrieve it...,” he said.

“Wait, wait, wait. Get me to retrieve it? Isn't that Narumi's job?” Yuu asked, startled by the casual tone Shinya spoke with.

“Narumi is tied down by the Templars and is currently acting as a distraction. He's acting on my instructions to appear as though they have the location and are just awaiting my signal to move. So right now the majority of their attention is trained on him. Once they get going, I'm sure they'll send Ferid and Crowly after them. Once they're off, that's when you two will go and meet up with Shinoa and the others. You'll be the retrieval team. We've sent her the coordinates already and I think she's already heading your way to meet you,” Shinya said, rather excitedly. “Guren promises to meet you there, but he's tied up with something else at the moment.”

“You want me to go along as well?” Mikaela asked, confused.

“Of course. Mostly to keep an eye on you. We can't leave you unattended in Yuu's place while suspicions of you being a Templar are still being tossed around on this side.”

Yuuichirou watched as Mika's hands balled into fists. “I'm not a templar! I won't stand to be called it again! If it means so much I'll be one of you. I'll be an Assassin!” He was angry and spiteful and when Yuu put his hands on Mika's, they were brushed aside.

Shinya let out a quiet laugh. “Its not so simple as proclaiming it. But, I'll put a good word in for you. We'll see once this mess with the Apple is dealt with.”

With a skeptical glance, Yuu asked, “Who else is coming with Shinoa?”

“Yoichi, Shiho and Mitsuba. I think you'll make a good team.” He turned suddenly to look somewhere on his side. “Oh, Guren's back. I best let you go. I told Shinoa to text you when she was close. Good luck, Assassin.” With one last smile, he ended the call and the screen went black.

“Ugh. So much for another lazy day,” he whined and stretched his arms above his head. “Better get dressed...”

\---

After much fussing over whether Mika should borrow clothes or put his old ones back on, Yuu gave up and Mika kept his khaki pants and t-shirt. Yuu once more dressed to be ready for free-running; jogging pants and a t-shirt.

It was already shaping up to be a warm day as he packed a bag with water bottles and miscellaneous snacks. As he slung it over his shoulder, his phone beeped incessantly at him. He took it from his pocket as Mika wondered over and peeked over his shoulder. “Its just Shinoa,” he told him. “She's at the station, waiting for us. Come on.”

Yuuichirou had a hard time not looking over his shoulder every few minutes for anyone following them. While knowing the Templars were aware of them was a blessing, it came with its curses and the paranoia of being followed and watched. Mika didn't seem so worried, but as their hands bumped against one another's he felt comforted by the other's simple presence beside him. Until the blond had gotten fed up with that apparently and took Yuu's hand into his own with a gentle squeeze. More than a small part of him was embarrassed by the small action, mostly due to thinking of Shinoa was going to say if, or rather when, she saw it. She was teasing him before they even came close to this point! But as they approached and saw her with the others, the serious atmosphere had truly taken any good feelings from their get together. 

Shiho leaned on the side of a van, well taken care of with Yoichi at his side. Shinoa and Mitsuba stood close, whispering to one another as they huddled to peer at one of their phones. Mika's hand tightened on his and every muscle seemed tense.

“Uh, hi guys,” Yuu said, breaking the silence that hung over the group. “This is Mikaela. Its about time you met him.” He tried forcing a smile to smooth it over a little easier.

Only Yoichi seemed to be any mood for introductions. “Hi, its nice to meet you. I'm Yoichi.” He held out a hand for the blond to shake, which Mika did and gave the younger of them a forced, but friendly smile as well. 

“Can we do this in the car?” Mitsuba asked, hands on her hips. “We need to move and we need to move now. I don't think it'll take long for the Templars to figure out that we tricked them. Especially if they've got eyes on us still...Also, why is Mikaela here? I wasn't told he was going to be here...”

Shinoa looked at the other girl, tilting her head to the side. “Oh? I thought for sure I mentioned it. Shinya's orders. We're taking him along to keep an eye on him.”

“I'm not a templar..,” Mika mumbled with a pout, while crossing his arms. If it hadn't been such a serious issue, Yuuichirou would've thought he looked adorable.

“Let's just get this over with,” Shiho grumbled as he pulled open the driver side door and climbed in. Everyone else climbed in accordingly, Yoichi up front, Shinoa and Mitsuba in the middle with Yuuichirou and Mikaela in the back. Only because Mitsuba had forced Shinoa to sit with her instead of between the other two to leave them alone. Yoichi had the directions plugged into a GPS already and they were off before anything more could be said. 

It was a long ride and quiet save for the radio that Yoichi insisted they put on early in the ride. There was small idle chatter between the girls who seemed to ignore the boys around with relative ease. If Yoichi or Shiho were talking, he couldn't hear over the rumble of the car. Every time he looked to Mika, opening his mouth to speak, he was reminded how uncomfortable he was with all this happening and closed his mouth. If Mika didn't want to talk, he was not going to force him. But their fingers remained entwined together, out of sight. 

They were nearly there when Shinoa spoke up,“Let's do this quick, but safely. There's bound to be people watching for tourists going off the hiking paths and we don't want to be caught. If we do though, play dumb, say you got lost or something. It'll be easier if we go in groups of two or even alone until we can meet up out of sight and continue to the cave were they have it hidden. It'll be a bit of a trek to get around to where we'll be stopping, but it can't be helped, we tried to find the closest point.”

“Guren said he'd meet us there,” Mitsuba added, “If anything goes wrong, if any Templars do show up, he'll take care of them with mine and Shinoa's help. We're the only actual trained Assassins out of you guys.”

\---

The van came to a stop on the further edge of the parking lot. They ambled about, splitting into their already chosen groups of two before disappearing into the crowds and between the few buildings at the path's beginning. It wasn't so much as up the the mountain as it was settled in its base, Shinoa had suggested that perhaps it was once a volcanic vent that had become blocked.

The sparse trees provided little cover, but it was enough. Twigs snapped beneath their feet as they trekked into the woods to escape sight. Yuuichirou had used that special vision he kept forgetting he could use, 'Eagle Vision' he had been reminded it was called by Yoichi some several days ago, to find the others. Though with Shinoa's phone blaring some catchy pop song of a ringtone, it wasn't hard.

He and Mikaela joined them as she answered. “Shinya! Any word on-” She paused, then her small smile faded and her brow furrowed. “You-You've got to be kidding.” “No, we're not anywhere near it yet.” “Split up? Are you crazy? I'm working with four noobies who I bet don't even have a damn kitchen knife on them, much less a hidden blade.” “I...I understand.” She grimaced, looking to the ground before suddenly pulling the phone from her hear and staring at it with horror. “S-shinya?!” she shouted at the screen, but even from his distance, Yuu could see the call was dropped.

Mitsuba stepped toward her. “Shinoa? What's going on?”

“We've been sold out,” she said.

All eyes flashed to Mikaela.


	8. Betrayal

Even Yuuichirou was filled with dread and glanced toward Mikaela. He wouldn't, he couldn't have! And the look of shock was mirrored on the blond's own face. 

“I didn't! I swear! I had nothing to do with that. I still don't even know where we're going,” Mikaela argued. “She's the one with all the information, right?” He pointed to Shinoa.

Her hands balled into fists at her sides. “Are you accusing me?” she asked, “That certainly sounds like an accusation.”

“No, I'm saying that you haven't shared what you know, so how could I possibly have told anyone where we're going. Think about that for a minute,” he explained, both hurt and anger made his voice waver.

“He does have a fair point,” Yoichi said. “None of us but Shinoa have the exact location down. Unless Mitsuba's managed to get a peek at her phone.”

“But it was definitely someone in on Shinya's plan...” Shinoa added. “And there wasn't many. This was something that's going unapproved by even the council...”

“A spy in the higher ups? A double agent?” Shiho suggested with a grimace.

Shinoa could only nod. “It appears so. We have to move, now. This mission is life or death now. Trust no one from here on out. Our only hope of getting out of here alive is with the help of the Apple of Eden. I fear we might actually have to use it...”

Yuu gulped. He had seen what the Piece of Eden could do through the memories. It was a powerful object, not something to be used lightly or without knowledge of its origins and the consequences of activating it. “Let's hope it doesn't come to that,” he said. 

A tense air hung over them before they headed off. Trekking through the under brush proved more difficult than simply free-running. There was no where to climb but into trees that hardly connected. There was no hand holds, no ramps, no ledges. It was eerily quiet with nothing but bird song every once in a while and the snapping of twigs beneath their feet. Though he could not deny that it was refreshing to be out of the city for once. Though it could not have been more than half an hour of walking, it felt like hours by the time Shinoa announced that they had arrived. And indeed it appeared so as a fissure in the earth just large enough for two walk side by side crossed their path. Rough stairs had been carved into the dark volcanic rock and lead down into darkness. They looked at one another before Mitsuba pulled a flare from her bag before activating the flare and heading down first. The red glow gave the place an eerie red glow as they descended the steps. 

Yuuichirou's excitement was reaching a high that he hadn't thought possible, but a tug on his shirt made him pause and look back. Mika gave him a worried look. He whispered, though his voice bounced off the walls as they came to the bottom of the stairs and into a long, natural corridor. “Is this safe?”

“Probably not,” Yuu answered, though he took Mika's hand into his own. They could both use the comfort. “But the Apple itself isn't safe...The location is the least of my worries.” What it could, what it might do, and what it will do in the wrong hands were among the worst of his worries. They pressed onward.

“Yuu, from the memories, do you remember where to go from here?” Mitsuba asked as she stopped to look around the large cavern. The flare's light barely touched the walls.

He stopped and frowned as he tried to recall the memories he had just witnessed earlier. But the place seemed to have other plans for him. The flare light became torch light before his eyes and those that surrounded him faded for a moment. The Bleed Effect, where memories of the ancestor merged with present situations. Normally it was sign that too much time had been spent in the simulations, but in this case, Yuuichirou could only be thankful. He witnessed a ghostly image of his own ancestor moving ahead. Without a word, he followed. He feared speaking would end it and they would be left to wait until it occurred again.

The others were speaking, but their voices were distant and muffled. He could feel his heart beating in his chest, quicker and quicker as his quickened his own pace. Down one tunnel, around a corner and further still. Narrow passages and high vaulted caverns, but the ghostly visions knew exactly where to go. Until they came to one last room and faded. 

The world itself seemed to spin in that moment as his sight cleared and sound returned to his ears. Yuu might've thought the literal weight of the world came crashing on him when the Bleed Effect released him and the resulting headache nearly brought him to his knees. But Mika was there, supporting him as he groped for a wall to lean against and catch his breath. A dim, golden light filled the room, made of perfectly smooth, black stone. Etchings covered every surface.

“Is this...a precursor site?” Shinoa gasped. She took the lead into the room and spun to take it all in with a look of wonder.

Mitsuba followed just after. “Its got all the makings of one. Did the Apple do it? Or was it always like this?”

“Yuu? Did it look like thi-”

“Is it there?” he asked, cutting her off. “Is the Apple in the shrine?” They would have time to discuss the architecture another time.

And indeed, the makeshift shrine stood on a block of the dark rock in the center of the room, covered in paper seals as if that would stop the power contained within it. The other's looked at each other with worry. Even Shiho seemed hesitant to approach it. Yuuichirou shouldered past them and stood before it.

“Yuu...Be careful,” Mika said. Yuuichirou noticed he was standing a 'safe' distance away. He didn't blame him, it was the smart thing to do.

He opened the little door and the room was flooded with light. 

\---

He opened and closed his eyes several times before his mind could even begin to register that he was no longer truly standing in that room any longer. 

“Ah, so you've finally come back,” came a voice, it echoed and had several tones and layers to it though maintained a singular sound. It came from everywhere while still managing to sound like it came from within his own head.

“Came back? I've never been here before...” Yuuichirou argued, he looked around for a source. Something, anything that would tell him what was going on. Was this the power of the Apple of Eden? Was this the voice of one of Those Who Came Before?

“You have. In another lifetime, but still you all the same,” it replied. It sounded smug, as if the details didn't matter.

“Who are you! What's going one!” he demanded. He turned again and again and nothing changed. Just white for miles. He turned on his heel again and there, standing just feet away was a short, long haired figure. Though, they had no true form to them. Yuu could see that much. An outline and no shadow, it flickered in and out like a digital glitch. 

“You didn't pay much attention to the memories did you?” they sighed and stepped forward. “I am Asuramaru. I am one of the ones you humans like to call “Those Who Came Before.” Not like Minerva or Juno though, no...I never quite reached their position.”

“I've heard of those ones.”

Asuramaru sighed and appeared to rub their temples. “I should hope so...They're the whole damn reason I'm trapped in this damn bauble.”

“Trapped?”

“Not really important. Not now anyways. We can deal with that later. There are others coming and they'll reach you soon. I'm going to let you go...Don't be alarmed if you suddenly know how to use the Apple, I'm just imparting some of my own knowledge on you that you may find useful."

“Wait, what?”

\---

The world was dark at first, until dim, golden light ebbed and flowed from an orb in the shrine before him. His hand already rested on it. It was no larger than a tennis ball, warm to the touch and covered with the same intricate markings as the walls of the room they found themselves in. He stared at it incredulously. No way was there a being trapped in that tiny thing! He picked it up and gave it a testing toss into the air. It was heavier than it appeared. He looked at it a moment longer, before looking to the others. 

They watched him with shock as he tossed it with ease, yet maintained a wary watch. They had taken defensive stances, ready to move should something go wrong. 

“Uh, Shinoa...It...It said there are others coming...We should probably get out of here,” Yuuichirou said, gesturing to the orb in his hand.

“The Apple warned you of people coming?” Mitsuba cut in.

He nodded. “Yea...I'm assuming its the Templars...Maybe the one who betrayed us too. Uh..Did anyone keep track of where we I was heading on our way here? Because the Bleed Effect has totally thrown me off now...I've no idea where we are...” 

He tucked the Apple inside his back pack, figuring the best place for it was out of sight as Shinoa took the lead. The others fell in step around him, save for Mika who was close at his side. The blond had a worrying look on his face, making his graceful features sour in thought. But there wasn't time for that, not now. He'd ask when they were away from that place and away from incoming Templars. He'd have all the time for Mikaela then. 

Down one corridor, around a corner and down another one; the twist and turns did nothing to help the headache that refused to leave him. But ahead, the tunnel began to illuminate.

“Is that the exit?” Yoichi asked, delighted that might finally get out of the depths.

Instead, it got brighter and brighter. They stopped and Mitsuba rushed to put out the flare. “Its not the exit, Yoichi! Its them!”

“Its could be Guren! Maybe he finally caught up with us!”

Mitsuba did not get the flare to kill its light before the figure holding the flashlight came around the corner.

Yoichi had been right. But so had Mitsuba. Accompanied by Ferid and Crowley to either side of him. He appeared unharmed and in good spirits even as he walked toward them.

Yuuichirou was frozen in place. His feet would not move and his words could not reach his lips. 'Guren? What are you doing with those two?' he wanted to ask. 'You're here to help us, right?' 

Instead, Guren said, “Yuuichirou...I see you're not nearly as useless as you seemed to be at first. You've gone from a hermit gamer to a fully recognized Assassin...And this is why they'll never win. Amateurs...Hand over the Apple.” He held out his hand as if he expected Yuu to comply without hesitation.

Shinoa was the first to speak. “Guren?! What are you doing with them!? You warned us away from them yourself?!”

Ferid laughed and took a few steps towards the group, but he did not pass Guren, instead hovered just behind him. “Oh, and I wonder why. Must've been afraid we couldn't keep a secret. Oh...Mika~ Is that you over there? Why don't you come over here where you belong?”

“No! I won't! I'm done you guys,” he shouted back. “I want nothing to do the Templars or Abstergo!”

“Come on, Krul has been grooming you to take her place since she got you. You wouldn't want to disappoint your mother, would you?” he teased, though a cruel smile was spreading on his face. 

Yuuichirou stepped between them. “He said he isn't going. And I'm sure as fuck not handing over the Apple.”

Guren sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “You can't win in a fight, Yuu. So what if Shinoa and Mitsuba have a hidden blade and maybe a combat knife hidden in their purses. Its still three against two and we're far more experienced...”

Yoichi glanced at Yuuichirou, which he caught from the corner of his own eye. The younger nodded towards his back pack. The Apple of Eden. It was a weapon in its own right. 

“Come on, quit stalling.”

He pulled his pack around and unzipped it to grab the Apple, lucky for him, his mind was not transported to that white place. Instead, just holding it filled his mind with knowledge he could not recall learning, nor could it grasp and even begin to understand half of it. What he did know, was how to use the Apple and holding it out before him, activated it.

Golden lights streaked across the black stone and filled the darkness between their two parties with crossing lines of light. He could feel absolute raw power emanating from the orb in his hand. It whirred quietly as it worked and the lights stretched further out.

“Yuu, you idiot! What do you think you're doing?!”

“Do you have any idea what you're doing?”

“Yuuichirou, put it down!”

All sorts of curses where sent his way from ally and enemy alike, but what else was he supposed to do when cornered? Give up? 

Not likely. 

He released the pent up power of the Apple of Eden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come on, with how the anime went...This should've been a given. C;


	9. And We Run

The sheer force that came pulsing from the Apple of Eden was enough to take the breath from his lungs and knock him to his knees. Though he had not intended for it to harm his friends, it seemed to take just the same effect on them. The further it went though, the stronger the pulses became. The templars that blocked their path were blown aside like leaves in a gust, hitting the rock face behind them. 

Yuuichirou and the others struggled back to their feet before their foes could. 

“Damnit, Yuu, give us a warning next time,” Shiho snapped, brushing himself off. 

“Scold me later, four eyes,” Yuu called back at him and he started forward. He was careful to put enough space between him and their foes as he passed them to dodge or duck out of the way. The others were not far behind, following his lead

But, he could hear Ferid as Mika passed by them and stopped in his tracks, the others continued on passed him. “Mika, where do you think you're going with those low lives. You're one of us, remember? How are they going to take that kind of news? Have you told them? No, I guess not. Couldn't bear to hurt your precious, Yuu-chan.”

Mika stopped and spun around to face the man on the ground, just struggling to sit up. “How dare you! I never asked to have anything to do with any of this.” He stepped forward and grabbed Ferid's collar, hoisting him up to look him in the eye. 

“Mika! We don't have time for this!” Yuuichirou called to him. But he had heard enough. Mika had lied to him. But even in the dim light Yuu could see the smug grin on Ferid's face. 'He could the one lying,' he thought, 'Trying to bait me into hating Mika..It won't work.' The grin was gone when Mika dropped him and jogged to catch up to him and the others. The scowl on his dearest friend's face told him volumes as he brushed past him. 

The others had continued on, though their light could be seen ahead. They ran to catch up, looking over their shoulders for pursuit. By the time they reached the stairs, they were all gasping for breath and they still had a ways to go. 

“We won't make it,” Yoichi sighed, shoulders dropping as he started up the rough cut stairway.

“Don't say that!” Mitsuba huffed, following not far behind him. “They're still back there and...Damnit, Shinoa, you and I totally should've just taken them out back there!”

“Our concern was getting the Apple out of there,” the other girl replied.

“Bullshit, you and I both just wanted to get our asses out of there.”

Shinoa glared daggers at the blonde girl a long moment before looking down at the ground. “Well, I can't say you're wrong.”

“We weren't prepared to face off against them. And seeing Guren with them...”

“Look, what's done is done. We have to keep moving,” Shiho interrupted, passing by both to join Yoichi at the top of the stairs. “I'm sure you'll get a second chance to redeem yourselves.”

Yuuichirou nodded in agreement. To go forward was their best bet, but to where exactly was the question. They couldn't run forever. He looked back at Mika, who had lagged behind and offered him a hand, his other still held the Apple. “Come on. Let's get you as far away from those guys as we can,” he said, his voice was barely more than a whisper. 

Mika took it, though not without hesitation. There was doubt in his eyes and worry like always. “Yoichi's right...We're not going to make it. I doubt there's only those three after us...,” he said as they came into the bright, blinding sunlight. “We can run all we want, but they'll find us, one way or another.” 

Shinoa stopped in her tracks, hands trembling at her side. “Don't think for a second the rest of us didn't hear what that Templar bastard said...Yuuichirou might be not be quite so smart to pick on it, but it definitely sounds like you're more than just an innocent bystander in all this. You were one of them, weren't you?" She turned on him. “That's how you got the information so easily, that's why it wasn't too much work for you to accept all this, that why you so easily came along with us without so much as a question!” Her voice rose to a shout before she turned once more and stormed up the last few stairs and into the woods. 

Yoichi gave them both his sincerest smile, a silent apology, but Shinoa's anger was mirrored on the pink haired boy beside him. He too stormed off with the younger in tow. Mitsuba said nothing as she continued on, a dark cloud seemed to hang over her head. 

Yuuichirou had a hard enough time trying to keep his own dark thoughts at bay. He gave the blond's hand a squeeze. “You used that information to help us,” he said, quietly, “You said you'd be one of us. I believe that-”

“Yuu-chan...Now's not the time for this,” Mika interrupted him, looking back over his shoulders. “They could be on us again any second...and I'd rather you not use the Apple again. I-I can explain everything once we're on the move again.”

\---

They had walked their way through the woods on their way there, but now they ran. With pounding heart and heavy breath. They had eyes on the skies, peering between the thick branches and eyes behind them for the stalking faces of the Templars and their betrayer. The further they went, the further it felt like they had to go to reach the safety of the van and the road to anywhere. 

Even when his legs screamed to stop and rest, he kept going. He'd suffered worst pains when he started free-running. Sprained ankles and wrists, broken fingers and a few knocks to his head; all to refine what he had learned in the simulations. He had trained his body to take the strain of prolonged physical stress, but even then he could only go for so long.

And Mika...Mika had not gone through such trials. He was lagging behind, gasping for breath worse then himself. Yuu pushed him on though, keeping at his side. He would not leave him behind. He would carry him if that's what it took. 

Luckily for them it did not and it seemed their Templar pursuers had let them go for the time being. They slowed as they reached the base of the trail and the buildings and tourist attractions. Shinoa warned that Templar eyes could be on them even before they reached the crowds. 

Hide in plain sight. 

They reached the van without incident. Moving through the crowds as if they were one of them. It was easier to return than it was to sneak away. They all climbed inside and were away. Yuuichirou looked out the back window for any signs of their foes, but found none. He wasn't sure what he expected, but that should really have been the first thing to come to his mind. They would not make it easy for them.

“Why didn't we just leave him behind?” Mitsuba finally asked when they were well on their way.

“Because they obviously want him back,” Shinoa answered. “If he wasn't a hostage before, he is now.”

“I can't be a hostage if I came willingly,” Mika snapped. 

“You can be if we threaten to kill you,” she replied.

“Look, let me explain first...I...I could say anything before. None of you would've trusted me, even Yuu...,” Mika started.

Yuuichirou felt his fingers brush against his hand. “Even when the others had suspicions, I still thought the best of you. I know you never would've been a part of that willingly.” He gave him a wide smile. “Let's hear it, Mika.”

“When I was adopted by Krul...I knew something was off almost immediately. There was no way she could have gotten through the screening process without paying someone off. She is certainly not the maternal type. Caring in her own special way, but it...its not what family feels like. Its through her that I learned a lot about 'Those Who Came Before', its something her and her team specialized in along with the genetic memory that the Animus deals with...They were looking for possible hosts of a special gene...I'm not sure about all the details about that part...But something about 'Those Who Came Before' and a mixing with the first humans?”

Shinoa stopped him there, “We know all this. Well, at least that they were looking into it. Its nice to know who's in charge of that particular project now, though.”

Mika gave her a quiet glare before continuing. “Apparently, she thought I was a host of said gene and wanted me for research purposes. After a while, I guess they figured out I didn't carry it, but it was too late and I knew too much about their research. She went against protocol and instead of...” He trailed off and looked to Yuuichirou. “She was supposed to kill me for knowing so much. Instead she convinced them to let me into the Order, it was from there that she and the other Templars started training me...Mostly they just used me as a messenger. They didn't let me in on a lot of their major plans...I didn't know about them tailing...what was his name again, Narumi? I didn't know about that until I started really reading into the reports when I briefly saw Yuu's names on of the files...”

“Are you saying you betrayed the Templar Order...for your boyfriend?” Mitsuba suggested, sounding rather unimpressed.

A flush immediately filled the blond's face and judging by the heat rising in his own, Yuu could tell he was too. “How did you even know?!” Yuu asked. 

“Oh, come on. Best guy friends don't just hold hands,” she said, turning her head to regard them with a raised brow. “Most best girl friends don't do that.”

“Except for us~,” Shinoa teased. 

There was a muffled retort from Mitsuba that kept the blonde girl quiet for some time as she turned back around in her seat.

Shinoa took over the interrogation from there. “So, spill ex-Templar, what else do you know?”

“I know they wanted to use the Apple of Eden in a satellite to try and transmit its crazy mind control powers on a global scale...”

“Tell me something I don't know.” The other girl had turned to face them in the back seat. 

“Uh, they believe Yuuichirou might be a carrier of the gene they're after because he's an Assassin...And with his explanation of the 'Eagle Vision' thing...I'm inclined to believe it.”

“Yoichi and Pinky up there have it too...So do I and Mitsuba. Its an inherited Assassin trait. A lot of Templars have it too.”

Mika's eyes grew wide with surprise. “Really?”

She simply nodded. “I guess that means were all invaluable to the Order then. Should we offer ourselves to be guinea pigs if we get cornered next time?”

“Let's not...,” came the unison reply from the front two seats. 

The majority of the ride back to the city continued in the same manner. Questions back and forth, trying to get every inch of advantage they could from Mikaela's knowledge of the Order. It was minimal, but now with the secret in the open, he did not hold back. They would fight betrayal with betrayal. The Templars gained Guren's knowledge, while they gained Mikaela's. It was hardly a fair exchange, but it would have to do. 

It was a unanimous decision that they go the bureau where they last had contact with Shinya and see what they could glean from the place. And to see if their ally was in one piece after the call that left they with the sense of dread.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All this crazy Assassin's Creed science-y stuff. I can hardly keep up with it myself and I've played all the games, read the majority of the books and comics! Its pretty crazy stuff, but then again, so is all this stuff about Seraphs and Demons in OnS. Seems like a perfect match if you ask me~! We're getting closer the end I think, now that the Apple has been retrieved, but that end could be in a couple chapters or another five. I have no idea...


	10. Next Step

The last time Yuuichirou had been to the bureau was right after Guren had rescued him from Templar hired thugs. He had never questioned how Guren knew, or how he had arrived so quickly; he supposed it had been a set up to teach him a lesson as they learned more of Guren's betrayal. From the outside, it looked much like a worn warehouse that had seen better days and the inside told much the same story. The only difference was that it had been re-purposed into a more lofty apartment space. He hadn't seen much of it. The front living room and the kitchen only really, where another Assassin (who's name he never learned) had cleaned his scrapes and cuts before patching him up.

Papers had been strewn across the floor and fluttered in the breeze that came in from the door. No lights were on and it seemed the place was deserted. For good reason, if the bureau was where Shinya had surprised, then no doubt the others had been as well. 

“They've fled or have been captured,” Shinoa said, as if reading his thoughts. “Maybe they've left a hint as to where they've gone.”

“Think any of them would've sent word to Narumi?” Mitsuba asked, stepping gingerly from the living room to the hall. The papers rustled under their feet like dried leaves, making it was impossible to walk without making a sound. 

“I sent him a text on the ride here. I never got a response...”

They kept talking as they wandered into the next room, leaving the boys by themselves. They looked about awkwardly as a the girls' conversation turned to muffled voices and fragments floating between doorways. Yuuichirou was unsure if the other two assassins had been in the hideout before. Mikaela, he knew for certain, hadn't been there. It seemed that while he looked on the havoc the Templars had caused on the place, Mika's shoulders drooped under the undeniable guilt the other must have felt. Yuuichirou wished there was something he could say to lift that dark cloud, if just a little. Unlike himself, Mika had been swept up into it all without any idea of what was happening.

'Mika, stop blaming yourself,' he wanted to say. 'It wasn't like you knew this would happen. We just have to keep going forward.' But as he opened his mouth to even begin ,one of the girl's shouted from further inside in the building. "Hey guys! Come here!” It sounded almost like excitement in their voice. It certainly wasn't panicked and nor did any cries for help follow. He hoped that at least meant they had found something useful.

“Where's here?” Shiho shouted back, starting towards the kitchen where they'd first disappeared too. 

Yoichi was not far behind, gesturing for the two to follow along as well. Yuu went first, taking Mika by the hand to make him come along. The next few room they looked into were just as much a mess. Signs of a struggle were evident in broken furniture and, upon closer inspection, perhaps bullet holes in the walls. He shuddered at the thought. They moved along in their search for the girls. 

“Upstairs,” one of them called again. 

“You couldn't have said that five minutes ago?” Shiho once again called back. He sighed and started back to the hallway where a wide staircase lead to the upper floor. The lower floor circled it and they looped around before they got back to them.

“What did you guys find?” Yuuichirou shouted as they head up. 

“Its Shinya!” Mitsuba answered, poking her head around the corner at the top of the stairs. “He's been hiding out in here.”

Shiho and Yuu made mirroring faces of disbelief. “You're kidding?” they said in unision. "Why didn't he contact us earlier!"

“Not at all. This place is full of little hiding places,” she said. “The others are gone, but even after all that's happened, he managed to get away in the worst of it...And his phone broke in the fight..." She led them down the upper hall to a room near the end of the corridor. Shinoa sat beside him on a sofa, a serious look across her face as she spoke. Both turned to look at the others as they entered the room. A sad smile broke on Shinya's face. 

“Ah, there's the rest of the team. You guys look like you made it out alright,” he said. “Shinoa says your were successful in retrieving the Piece of Eden?” 

Yuuichirou shrugged his back off his shoulder and withdrew the Apple in question. “Yea, we got it,” he said. Once again the golden orb was warm to the touch and he swore he could feel the consciousness trapped within it stirring. “What do we do with it now?”

“Simple...We keep it out of Templar hands for as long as we can. Find another hiding place for it...destroy it...Anything,” Shinya answered. The man looked like he had been through hell; split lip and a swollen, bruised eye. He had fought someone for sure and was on the losing end of it. He gestured for Yuu to put it back in the bag, which he did without question.

“That's going to be infinitely harder to do than it is to say,” Shiho sighed, leaning against the wall beside the door. “They know we have it. They probably know we came here...”

“Which is why you need to leave,” Shinya said. “I don't doubt for a minute that they've just this place under surveillance.”

Yuu caught the anxious look that Mitsuba and Shinoa shared across the room. He supposed neither of them had thought of that. But of course they'd come running to where they thought it was safe. “Could this even be a trap?” he asked.

Shinya shrugged. “Could be...”

“Ah, you're just full of support, aren't you?” Shinoa joked as she stood and dusted her pants off. “Well, if this place is being watched, we better get a move on and find somewhere else to crash. Mika?”

The blond perked at the sound of his name, “Er...Yes?”

“How much information was in those files? Like...Do they know where we live? Or some of our other safe houses?” she asked. The question had Shinya raising a brow in curiosity.

“There were frequented locations and a list of places that some of you had been seen, but nothing labelled as home or nothing that could be listed as housing at least,” he answered, bluntly. “Though I suppose this wouldn't exactly be written down as housing either, but it obviously housed a few Assassins.”

“You must've known about this place with your insider knowledge.” 

Shinya looked truly interested and reclined in his seat as if he were about to watch a very interesting bit of drama. The others were looking between the two as they went back and forth.

“I did.”

“Did you know they'd do this?”

“No.”

“How can we be sure?”

“How am I supposed to prove that? All I can say is that I don't remember any plans to take any action on the place.”

Shinya coughed to get their attention. “Does this mean you did know more than you let one when we spoke before?”

Yuu could see the frustration building once more as Mikaela retorted, “I've already been through this once with them. I didn't know what they were doing until I was in. I never asked to be a part of it and I don't want to be now. I...I figured pretending I had no clue about the whole would make my information a little more believable, since maybe you'd trust naivety over a traitor.”

“Well...I'd rather trust this traitor over a certain other one...,” Shinoa said, while the tone of her voice made it sound like a joke, the lack of a smile sent a chill up Yuuichirou's spine. 

“I agree. If Yuu's friend was going to turn on us, he'd have done it back when he got it and it seemed like we were trapped,” Yoichi added, seemingly oblivious to the ever tensing atmosphere. He said it cheerfully, gleefully almost. 

“He's got a point, if there was a time to turn on us, that would've been it...” Shiho agreed, with a nod, though he certainly didn't seem very happy to come to that conclusion. 

Shinoa raised a brow and looked ready to say something, but kept whatever remark to herself after Mitsuba shot her a knowing glare. “Either way, Mika's been rather useful in his information so far. I've no reason to doubt its validity,” she said. “But, I think he's giving the Templars too much credit for sniffing us out so easily. I'm going to take them to the port safe house.”

“Why that one?” Shinya asked.

“Its a boat, Shinya. They come after us, we get the hell out of there.”

“I don't recall you knowing how to steer a boat.”

“That's why you're coming along!”

There was silence before Shinya broke it with, “You put a lot of faith in thinking I know how too.”

“Don't you?”

“Theoretically. I've never had to.”

“...That's nothing better than what I can say.”

“Exactly.”

With the attention off him once more, Mika sighed quietly and leaned against the wall. Yuuichirou stood closely beside him and in a barely audible whisper, said, “Not quite what I expected...”

“What's not?” Mika asked, his tiredness was apparent in his voice and his face. He leaned his head on Yuu's shoulder.

“This whole thing. I thought it would be more...ya know, heroic maybe?” he replied.

“Heroic...Really?”

“Its saving the world, isn't it?”

“You're not saving them from aliens, Yuu. Its a secret war, no one knows its happening but those involved.”

“Thanks for your undying support.” He rolled his eyes.

Mika laughed quietly. “Anytime.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this fic has just about run its course...One or two more chapters to tie up some loose ends and make sure our bbys are safe.


	11. Safe Haven

They had quickly bought canned foods and other necessities to last them a long while out of port. Though the Brotherhood had some money put aside through contacts and friends, it was untouchable by Shinya. Yuuichirou heard muttered curses about Guren when the older Assassin's card had been declined for a third time. Mikaela offered and much to all their delight, the the lovely Abstergo cooperate card worked for them. 

Shinya argued with them on the way back about leaving paper trails, and how the Templars might know through purchase history of what their plan was. No one backed him up. They needed the supplies and any money gone from a Templar account was money well money well spent for them. At least, that was Shinoa's argument while the others meekly agreed. 

It was a less boat and more a luxury yacht; sail and all. Yuu couldn't recall the last time he'd been on a boat of any sort and even just the sight of it among the other large boats took his breath away. He readied himself to think of it more like a vacation than an escape. Instead, it took hours for him before they even set out into the harbour waters, to get a handle of walking on the unsteady surface and even then, he remained below deck. They set out as the sun sunk lower, hoping the darkness would cover their escape. Whether or not the Templars already had them tracked or not, was another problem altogether.

By orders of Shinya, voted as their leader for the time being, they searched the place from top to bottom. Anything out of the ordinary. Yuuichirou wasn't even sure what time it was when they finally called off the search and Shinoa and Mitsuba took the first watch for the night. In the end, it was for the best. There were only three rooms and as far as Yuu could tell, they'd already paired themselves off nicely. (Except for Shinya, who was alone.)

In their little cabin, Mikaela sat on the bed before flopping into his back with a heavy sigh. Yuuichirou joined him moments later, laying beside him as they stared wordlessly at the ceiling. Their hands found one another's and their fingers locked together. Despite the tiredness in his limbs and the exhaustion pushing him towards sleep, a smile spread across his face and he turned to look at Mikaela. The blond was already look at him with an almost dazzled look on his face.

“W-what's that look for?” he asked.

“What look?” the other asked in return, changing his expression to one of bemusement. 

“That one you just gave me.”

“I was...I was just staring, Yuu-chan.”

“At me?” He was skeptical. Of all the things, especially of all the things they had witnessed that day, it was him that Mika chose to stare at?

“Of course.” A gentle smile crossed his face and he shifted onto his side. 

With their faces so close, Yuu could get lost in Mika's blue eyes. He slowly bridged the gap between them until their lips met. It lasted just a second before he pulled away with nervousness. Was he going too fast? Was it too much with everything else going on? But Mika followed him away and their lips met again. Mika's free hand found its way to Yuu's hair and kept him locked in their kiss, becoming more and more heated by the second. 

Gripping Mika's shirt, he push the other onto his back again as he made to straddle him and eliminate the space between them. Mika's hands were on his hips, holding him closer and daring to slip up beneath the t-shirt. Yuu could feel his face get warmer with his blush and he was, God, of all things nervous still. He could feel his own hands shaking as he clung to Mika's shirt and swore his heart skipped a beat every so often every time the blond shifted the slightest beneath him. He gasped for air when they part for a moment.

And Mikaela was laughing ever so quietly at him, but deep and huskily. Yuuichirou looked down at him with a frown. “What are you laughing at now?” he asked, pulling back before Mika could lock him into silence with another long kiss.

Mika's hand left their place on his hips to cover his hands. “You, of course,” he answered. “You're shaking, Yuu-chan, don't think I can't feel it.”

“Mika...I..,” he stuttered and looked away.“I can't help it...I'm so worried about messing this up. We've been through so much in such a short time...Mika...tell me if I'm doing something wrong.”

“Yuu-chan.” Hearing his name said so softly had him looking back to the other. Mikaela's smile alone relaxed, much less the gentle squeeze on his hands. “I feel like I should be the one saying such things. I lied to you because I worried the truth would keep us tear us further apart and yet you're still here with me, defending me even. Yuu-chan...I don't think you can do anything wrong.” 

“M-mika! That's not what I meant. I meant...more the, uh.” 

“Oh...the intimate stuff...”

“Yea.”

“Yuu-chan...”

“Yes?”

“Get back down here and stop making such a worried face.”

Then their lips were back on one another's in another passionate kiss. Gasping as their hand explored one another until the events of the day truly took hold and even their excitement was dulled by exhaustion. They did not sleep back to back or on opposite sides of the bed, instead, they curled close to one another, hands clasped together. 

 

When morning dawned, the light streamed into their cabin through the thin curtains. Yuuichirou woke with his head resting on Mikaela's chest, rising and lowering with each breath the other took. It was warm and soothing with the sunlight and the cosiness of the little room they bunked in. The rocking of the boat reminded him where he was however, yet a part of him refused to believe that it was anywhere but home. He was safe in Mika's arms and that was all that mattered.

He buried his face even closer, relishing in just the contact between them. He looked up at Mika to find the blond smiling so sweetly down at him, eyes still half closed with sleep. Yuu shifted enough to be able to press his lips to Mika's again. Short and sweet, he pulled away to rest his head on the other's shoulder. 

A knock on the door had them both jumping. “Hey, its your turn to keep an eye out,” Yoichi's voice came through the door. 

“Alright...We'll be out there in a minute,” Yuu called back. Sighing and grumbling, he squirmed his way out of the bunk. Purposefully going over Mika in the most inconvenient of ways to ensure the other didn't fall back asleep.

“Ow. Yuu! What are you-?” he complained, swatting at him as he practically tumbled out of the bed. He dressed himself quickly in the hopes that any retaliation from Mika would be missed by his hasty escape. He slipped on his way up the stairs and those precious few seconds were lost when Mika caught up to him and pinned him to the wall.

He was held in place by solely Mika's eyes trained on him; there was no way the loose hold of the blond's fingers on his wrists would keep him still. They had a hard, cold look to them and Yuuichirou even slid a bit down the wall behind him to get away. But as Mika laughed, he broke the worrying air and showered Yuu in kisses. “Did you actually think I was mad?” he asked, still laughing.

“Maybe..,” he pushed Mika carefully, not wanting to risk even the slightest chance of going overboard.

Mika came in for another kiss and Yuu wrapped his arms around the other's neck to hold him there. It was a long, tender moment as the breeze tugged at them and the sea surrounded them. 

A lovely moment interrupted, but Shinoa leaning over the railing above them and calling, “Oooooh! What's this?! Are you fraternizing with the enemy there, Yuu? How could you after all we've been through?” Though he could tell she meant it as a joke, the wide smile as he stared up at her with a scowl, and her absolutely obnoxious laughter. 

Mikaela however did not find the amusement in it and lowered his head, pushing away from Yuuichirou and back below deck. 

“Mika...,” Yuuichirou sighed, starting after him, before stopping long enough to throw several rude gestures toward the purple haired girl. He found him easily, there wasn't really anywhere to hide, in the kitchen sitting next to Yoichi who was pouring him a bowl of cereal. 

Shiho looked ready to fall back to sleep in his own bowl, keeping his head up only by his propped elbow. 

“Ah, Yuu. Did you sleep well? I know Kimizuki here didn't get a wink...,” he said. “And what about you, Mika?”

“I slept fine,” the blond answered, if but a bit coolly. He was still bristling from Shinoa's attempt at humor.

“Me too. Never better, actually,” Yuu said, stretching his arms. He really couldn't remember a time he'd been so well rested and wonder if it had been the day's activities leaving him exhausted or that he spent the night in a safe haven. 

He passed by Mikaela to get a bowl for his own cereal, giving him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder as he did. The exchange was lost on Yoichi as the other two moved over to make room for him. He pushed the box over and they kept to light chatting even as Shiho did fall asleep and snored softly across from them at the table. Mika said little, but he was at least civil with Yoichi. Yuu had to give him credit, he was trying at least to befriend Mikaela. 

He hoped that their time in the confined space of the boat, that they'd all accomplish at least some level of friendship with each other. They'd have to if they wanted to survive each other, much less the Templars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter is gonna be a time skip ahead. Like...a big one...but don't worry its not like my vague timeline isn't all over the place already anyways.


	12. For Now, We Rest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! I've been so busy working on cosplay or at work that I've completely forgotten about the fic!  
> Its a little lacking, I know. I'm not sure when but things got derailed and didn't end up where I had planned, but I hope this will suffice. ;^;

No pursuit came after them, not for days. In their time sailing along the coast, Shinya managed to get into contact with another group of the Brotherhood. The damage was done however. Guren's attack had left the entirety of their small group in suspicion of being a part of it as well. The group feared they would be followed and worst yet, that there was still a traitor in their midst. Shinya made a point of not mentioning Mikaela's involvement. But the mention of having a Piece of Eden was just too much to risk and they agreed to meet.

\----

When they hit land again, Yuuichirou had no idea where they where or even how far they had gone. He was tired in a way he didn't even know existed; a general sick feeling that left him aching from their cramped quarters, restless and agitated. He wondered how people could ever have managed to sail from one continent to the next without exploding from sheer frustration. They all felt it by the end and dry land was a welcome change when they docked in a small town.

As they got out and tied the boat off, Yuu made a show of hopping off and kissing the wet boards of the dock. “Sweet land! I thought I'd never see you again!” he said, arms out stretched as if to hug it. 

The display was followed by snickers from the others, before Mikaela dragged him too his feet. “Get up, you're going to get soaked just by laying there,” he said, still laughing. 

“Yuu, do you have the Apple?” Shinya asked, gesturing to the pack already on his back.

He nodded. “Yea.”

“Good, then let's go and find out who we're dealing with here.” 

His tone had them looking to each other for answers, but none of the younger assassin could figure out what had caused such a shift in his demeanour. They lagged behind him a bit, to whisper amongst themselves.

“Shinoa, Mitsuba, you guys have been in the Brotherhood longer,” Yoichi asked, “Do you have any idea who's in charge here?”

Both girl's shook their heads. “Not a clue. Everyone tends to move around a lot, so there's not often an established leader or group for a long time. It doesn't help that I don't know where we are either,” Shinoa said, looking around the small town. 

Yuu looked for any signs that might tell them where they were, but Shinya was determined to take them on a path into a dingy looking building and any from any indication of where they were. A part of Yuu though it was purposeful, another wondered how he could have even known to go that way to keep them in the dark. The building's boarded windows kept the most of the light outside and only through small slits did any get inside to illuminate a sparsely furnished...he guessed shop of sorts. Shelves lined the first room them came into as their leader slowed his steps. 

“Safety and peace,” he called into the dimness, stopping in the centre of the room. The others filled the space behind them, spreading out against the walls to watch for something, anything. 

Footsteps answered his call and a figure emerged from the darkness. 

“Shinya, its been a while,” the man said, hands tucked into his pockets. A woman silently took her place to his right.

Yuuichirou heard Mitsuba gasp beside him. “You know them?” he whispered, leaning in.

“My sister...and Kureto,” she answered, “He's...He's the Head of the Brotherhood for our region.”

He gulped and glanced over at Mikaela, certain the other had heard what she said. The blond was staring at the floor, hands shaking at his side. Yuu wanted nothing more than to take his hand, but knew better than to move too much with the man before them. 

“Kureto...I thought I recognized the voice, couldn't be sure,” Shinya said, his tone was careful and muted from the earlier coolness. “Now I truly understand your hesitance to meet me.”

“Were you followed?” Kureto asked.

“I haven't the slightest clue to be honest. We haven't seen our Templar...friends since we left.” He coated 'friends' in a tangible venom. 

“That's hardly something to feel safe with, but I'll keep this short then. Give me the Apple of Eden, its safer in proper Brotherhood hands.” He held his hand out. 

All eyes turned to Yuuichirou, he looked to Shinya. “R-really? That's it? All that work for this thing and we just hand it over to him without even questioning what he's gonna do with it?” Yuu asked.

“Yuu, now is not the time to be stubborn!” Shinoa hissed. “Give it to him, its fine. We're not the Templar's we're not going to use it.”

Mika muttered under his breath, “I still think we should have dumped it in the ocean...”

“But really? This is it? All our work, just to hand this over...and then what?”

“You do it all over again,” Kureto answered. “This is a never ending war, not until every Piece is ours or until every Templar is dead. Or the end of the world. Which ever happens first. Normally, I'd expect an assassin to know this and understand it. But your mentor was a traitor and well, I doubt he'd put to much effort into someone he just planned to kill in the end anyway. I'm surprised you have the Piece of Eden at all.” A small smile crept onto his face and he held his hand out a little farther. “Now, hand it over.”

Yuuichirou gritted his teeth and reluctantly took his bag off his shoulders. “Fuck it, if I keep it the Templars are going to come after me, if I get rid of it on my own, everyone is going to be after me, if I give it to you...well its a little late, I'm already an assassin so the Templars will still come after me... There's no winning, but at least Asuramaru won't be in my head any more.”

He had spent the last several days with Asuramaru interrupting what would be absolutely pleasant dreams. Whatever he was, he was constantly trying to cut a deal with him to be released. Yuu never bought into it, he didn't trust the...whatever he was. But this would offer him a chance to get rid of him and finally sleep soundly. All that work however, to go unrewarded...but there was no choice. With a frown and furrowed brow, he stepped forward and placed the Apple in Kureto's hand. 

“You're smarter than you look,” Kureto said quietly, “You made the right call and obedience is not forgotten in the Brotherhood.”

“Obedience sounds like a Templar thing,” Yuu muttered, turning back to join the others. Mika looked up at him with a sheepish look as stood side by side again, their hands brushing ever so lightly together.  
Whether or not Kureto heard him, was uncertain and he truly didn't not care. 

“Aoi, give your sister the location of the hideout they can stay in for the time being until we can make use of them. Get word to Narumi that they'll be joining them shortly. Shinya...You're coming with me. We've got business to attend to,” Kureto ordered, turning and leaving through the dark doorway and gesturing for Shinya to follow. 

“Does that business have the name Guren?”

“It does.”

Shinya sighed before nodding his head to the others. “Well...I'd wish you luck out there, but it takes more than that these days..” He followed Kureto into the next room. 

The blond woman, Mitsuba's sister, stepped forward and handed her over a letter. “Follow these instruction to the letter. No side routes, no pit stops. They will be waiting for you and move quickly. There's a car out back that you will use, it has supplies for your group and Narumi's.” With that as quietly as she had come, she left them.

“So that's it then?” Yuu asked, moving to look over Shinoa's shoulder at the piece of paper.

“Yea, that's it. We're done for now, until they find another piece for us to find,” she replied, handing it over to Shiho. “Since you're driving, you take them. Let's go find that car that she mentioned.”

And so Shinoa left through the door. Shiho sighed and followed behind with Yoichi in tow. 

Leaving Mikaela and Yuuichirou alone for the moment.

“Do we run now?” Mikaela asked, with a little laugh. “Get away from all this?”

“If I thought it was that easy, I would. Right now, with you,” he said. “But, I want answers more than anything and I won't find them by running...Nothing is true; everything is permitted...I have a feeling Kureto wasn't completely honest with us. He's got something up his sleeve.”

Mikaela nodded and closed the gap between them with a tight hug. “I feel it too. The others though...”

“They believe him. I think we're on our own for this one. Do you think...maybe Guren found out what he was planning? Is that why he left for the Templars?”

“Yuu-chan, this is a bad time to be doubting yourself after all we've been through.” He held the other out at arms length and gave him a hard look over.

“But, think about it Mika,” He began to argue.

“No. You convinced me to join you and the Brotherhood, there's no turning back now. Especially not for me.”

Yuu sighed and nodded. “Right...”

“But that doesn't mean you can't look into it. And being with them should put you in the right place to do that. Come on, Yuu-chan, they're probably waiting for us. Just think, we can maybe...just maybe rest for a while now that this is over.”

“For now.”


End file.
